We look at various top 25 lists for Ohio State and where the Buckeyes land in these early projections.
Steve Helwagen
A number of leading websites and college basketball experts have weighed in with their early preseason top 25 lists for the 2024-25.
After some strong activity in the transfer portal, Ohio State is projected in several of these early polls as a preseason top-25 team.
Jake Diebler will begin his first full season as the Ohio State head coach in 2024-25. He led the Buckeyes to an 8-3 finish this past season after taking over as the coach following the firing of Chris Holtmann. OSU missed the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Buckeyes ended up 22-14 overall, reaching the third round of the NIT before being eliminated by Georgia.
Diebler will have two returning starters with junior guards Bruce Thornton and Evan Mahaffey. Two more starters, center Felix Okpara and guard Roddy Gayle Jr., opted to transfer out of the program. The fifth starter, forward Jamison Battle, exhausted his eligibility.
OSU also lost forward Zed Key and guards Scotty Middleton and Bowen Hardman to the transfer portal.
Diebler and his new staff were busy in the transfer portal themselves, adding guards Meechie Johnson and Micah Parrish as well as forward Sean Stewartand center Aaron Bradshaw. Johnson is a former Buckeye who played his first two seasons with the Buckeyes before transferring to South Carolina.
Returning players due back include guard Taison Chatman, forward Devin Royal, forward Kalen Etzler and center Austin Parks. OSU has two incoming freshmen in guards Juni Mobley and Colin White.
The Big Ten will move to an 18-team alignment in 2024-25 with the addition of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. OSU will play Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska twice and every other team once.
The Buckeyes will open the season against Texas in Las Vegason Nov. 4. OSU also figures to play a road game at Texas A&M and face Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in December. OSU will reportedly host a multi-team event with November games against Evansville, Green Bay and Campbell.
Below, we look at a number of these early preseason top 25 lists for the upcoming season and what they have to say about the Buckeyes.
ESPN.COM (JEFF BORZELLO)
* Link: ESPN.com
* Ohio State Ranked: Just outside top 25 in Next In Line
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 15), Indiana (No. 18), UCLA (No. 21), Rutgers (No. 25), Maryland (Next In Line)
CBSSports.com (Gary Parrish)
* Link: CBSSports.com
* Ohio State Ranked: 14th
* Regarding Ohio State: "This ranking is based on Jake Diebler 's Buckeyes returning two of the top seven scorers -- specifically Bruce Thornton and Devin Royal -- from a team that missed the 2024 NCAA Tournament but closed with an 8-3 record after Diebler replaced Chris Holtmann in February. The additions of South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson, Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw, San Diego State transfer Micah Parrish and Duke transfer Sean Stewartshould help Ohio State be relevant again in Diebler's first full season."
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 12), Indiana (No. 18), UCLA (No. 19), Rutgers (No. 23)
NCAA.com (Andy Katz)
* Link: NCAA.com
* Ohio State Ranked: 14th
* Regarding Ohio State: "Jake Diebler has the pieces to put the Buckeyes in the top three in the Big Ten and in the NCAA Tournament. Bruce Thornton will be one of the top playmakers and the portal haul filled all the holes with Aaron Bradshaw and Micah Parrish the answer inside and Meechie Johnson and Sean Stewart on the perimeter."
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 10), Indiana (No. 12), UCLA (No. 18), Rutgers (No. 19), Illinois (No. 27), Oregon (No. 29), Michigan State (No. 30).
The Athletic (C.J. Moore)
* Link: TheAthletic.com
* Ohio State Ranked: Just outside top 25 in Next Up
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 13), Michigan (No. 17), Indiana (No. 19), Illinois (No. 20), UCLA (Next Up), Rutgers (Next Up), Maryland (Next Up), Michigan State (Next Up).
FanSided.com/CBS (Jon Rothstein)
* Link: FanSided.com
* Ohio State Ranked: 16th
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 9), Indiana (No. 15), UCLA (No. 18), Oregon (No. 24), Michigan State (No. 27), Rutgers (No. 30), Michigan (No. 32), Maryland (No. 38), Illinois (No. 39), Wisconsin (No. 43).
BartTorvik.com
* Link: BartTorvik.com
* Ohio State Ranked: 37th
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 12), UCLA (No. 13), Michigan State (No. 20), Indiana (No. 23), USC (No. 25), Rutgers (No. 28), Michigan (No. 31), Northwestern (No. 36), Wisconsin (No. 41), Nebraska (No. 42), Maryland (No. 46), Oregon (No. 47), Washington (No. 50).
FOXSPORTS.com (John Fanta)
* Link: FoxSports.com
* Ohio State Ranked: 21st
* Regarding Ohio State: "I love the potential of Ohio State with Bruce Thornton, the return of Meechie Johnson, San Diego State transfer Micah Parrish on the perimeter, and Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw entering the fold."
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 10), Indiana (No. 15), UCLA (No. 17), Maryland (No. 20), Rutgers (No. 24), Oregon (First Five Out), Michigan State (First Five Out).
SI.com (Kevin Sweeney)
* Link: SI.com
* Ohio State Ranked: Not ranked in top 25
* Other Big Ten Teams: Purdue (No. 14), Illinois (No. 22), Rutgers (No. 25)
