Buckeyes Place Top 25 in Andy Katz's Preseason Rankings

Jake Diebler's Ohio State Buckeyes are in a prime position to succeed.

Jan 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) dribbles past Penn State Nittany Lions forward Qudus Wahab (22) during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Value City Arena. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

The Buckeyes continue to impress.

Ohio State placed No. 14 in Andy Katz's Power 36 rankings Thursday, the first of its kind since the transfer portal closed.

Katz, an NCAA March Madness and Big Ten Network media personality, had eight total Big Ten teams in his preseason rankings, the most of any conference. The Southeastern Conference and Big 12 came in a close second, with seven teams representing each.

Mar 26, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler yells to his team during the first half of the NIT quarterfinals against the Georgia Bulldogs at Value City Arena. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

Ohio State was joined by Purdue, Indiana, UCLA, Rutgers, Illinois, Oregon and Michigan State in the conference.

Although the Buckeyes lost five players to the transfer portal, head coach Jake Diebler went out and got four players of his own — South Carolina's Meechie Johnson Jr., San Diego State's Micah Parrish, Kentucky's Aaron Bradshaw and Duke's Sean Stewart.

The Buckeyes had a chaotic season, to say the least — after starting 11-2, Ohio State went on to lose nine of their next 12. They fired former coach, and now DePaul head coach, Chris Holtmann, and Diebler took over with the interim tag.

Under Diebler, Ohio State finished the season 8-3, including making the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, leading the Buckeyes to sign Diebler to a full-time gig for five years.

Through it all, the Buckeyes remained persistent and hungry to find a way to the NCAA Tournament — although they had too little too late, they are in a prime position to compete for a conference title next season, especially with leading scorer and facilitator Bruce Thornton returning for his third year.

Along with Thornton, Diebler will retain sophomores Devin Royal and Taison Chatman and junior Evan Mahaffey, and will bring in freshmen Juni Mobley Jr. and Colin White.

With a roster this dynamic and a young, yet experienced, coach, the Buckeyes will certainly be a team to look out for to compete for a conference title… or maybe more.