Ohio State, West Virginia Set to Play in Cleveland in 2023

The Ohio State Buckeyes and West Virginia Mountaineers basketball have agreed to play each other in Cleveland.

Columbus isn't the only major city in Ohio that will feature Ohio State Buckeyes basketball next season.

The Buckeyes and West Virginia have agreed to play each other Dec. 30 in a neutral site game in Cleveland. The contract has not been finalized for a venue yet, but it is likely that Ohio State and the Mountaineers will play at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This wouldn't be the first time the two schools have met on the hardwood, though. On Dec. 29, 2019, the two played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and then-No. 22 West Virginia defeated then-No. 2 Ohio State 67-59 in which Kaleb Wesson led the Buckeyes with 17 points and nine rebounds, getting 12 points off the bench from former guard Duane Washington Jr.

Ohio State is no stranger to playing in big neutral site games, as an annual participant in the CBS Sports Classic, while also heading to Hawaii for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational last season in which they played the NCAA Tournament runner-up San Diego State.

The Buckeyes will be in a rebound heading into next year after a disappointing 2022 season, finishing under .500 for the first time since 2003-04.

Ohio State has a young returning core of three freshmen who started six of the last nine games together as a unit before forward Brice Sensabaugh — who declared for the NBA draft while maintaining his eligibility on March 25 — sustained a season-ending knee injury.

However, guards Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. and center Felix Okpara will be back in 2023 and, along with forward Zed Key who will return from season-ending shoulder surgery, will lead the Buckeyes alongside their No. 8 recruiting class in 2023.

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