Ohio State Buckeyes Remain No. 2 in Week 16 AP Poll

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the second-hottest team in the country.

For the first time in six weeks, the Buckeyes stayed put.

Kevin McGuff's Ohio State (22-3, 13-1 Big Ten) Buckeyes remained at No. 2 in the Week 16 Associated Press rankings Monday.

The top team in the Big Ten is riding a red-hot 12-game win streak, picking up ranked victories over now-No. 4 Iowa in January and now-No. 14 Indiana earlier this month during that span.

Perhaps most impressive about this streak, besides the fact that they haven't lost in the 2024 calendar year, is the Buckeyes are winning their games by an average of 16.8 points per game. Despite half of those games coming within 10 points, they have blown out conference teams on countless occasions, including coming off a 33-point victory over Nebraska Wednesday.

In addition, Ohio State is just one of four ranked teams who haven't lost in 2024, joining the likes of No. 1 South Carolina, No. 16 Gonzaga and No. 25 Princeton.

Although McGuff, sophomore forward Cotie McMahon and graduate guard Jacy Sheldon have all mentioned multiple times this season that the Big Ten is not an easy conference, teams are performing at a much worse rate than in recent seasons. Only five teams have been ranked all season, with two of them — Maryland and Illinois — dropping out after the first three weeks.

Nevertheless, the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes and Hoosiers have held their ground - although the latter two both suffered unranked losses in the last week.

Although Iowa may be looking for revenge at home against Ohio State on March 3, the Buckeyes likely have their eyes set to Thursday, where they will play Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania at 6 p.m.