Ohio State Buckeyes Enter Top 25 Ahead Of Second Game

The AP Poll has been released after the opening week of college basketball and the Ohio State Buckeyes are now in the Top 25.

Nov 4, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler calls a play against the Texas Longhorns during the first half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to host the Youngstown State Penguins on Monday night for their home opener of the 2024-25 campaign. This comes exactly one week after a dominant showing in Las Vegas resulting in a victory over the No. 19 Texas Longhorns.

One thing will be different for Jake Diebler's crew on Monday night and that is a Top 25 ranking attached to the team name.

In the preseason poll, Ohio State was unranked but among a group of potentially strong teams receiving votes. The votes for the Buckeyes have clearly picked up even more following the 80-72 season opening win. They are now officially No. 21.

This is the first appearance for this program in the Top 25 since January 2023. Ohio State was not the only new addition as 2-0 St. John's secured the No. 22 spot right behind the Buckeyes.

Nov 4, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. (0) dribbles against Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope (0) during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns happened to drop out of the rankings due to the loss to the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is joined by three other Big Ten Conference schools in the Top 25. Purdue sits at No. 13 following a 2-0 start, Indiana is also 2-0 and comes in at No. 16, while 1-0 Rutgers is No. 24.

Although the Buckeyes are heavy favorites versus Youngstown State, Monday night is an opportunity for this edition of Ohio State basketball to show the home crowd just how good they are this year. The experienced backcourt of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson and Micah Parrish should be fun to watch. Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. will draw some hype for his debut at home after lighting it up from three-point range versus Texas.

As for the bigs, Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart will get an opportunity to dominate with their size. Devin Royal and Evan Mahaffey will also likely get significant minutes off the bench.

Perhaps this second game is an opportunity to put up 100 points. It is not out of the question with numerous natural scorers and a fast-paced attack.