Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Michigan makes big statement to start the season

By Austin Walther

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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BOISE, ID – MARCH 17: C.J. Jackson #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 17, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID – MARCH 17: C.J. Jackson #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 17, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

8. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0)

It’s a little weird to have a team that have two good true road wins ranked this low. Ohio State was the hardest team to find a home for this week. They opened things up with a win at Cincinnati. That kept everyone entertained on the second night of the season. Then they went off and defeated Creighton at their place which was one of the five Gavitt wins for the Big Ten. In between these games, they knocked around some lower mid-majors.

You can’t ask much more from Chris Holtmann. He blew expectations out of the water last season and now we’re all down on the Buckeyes. I mean they did lose the Big Ten Player of the Year along with two other veterans.

C.J. Jackson was the point guard last season with some serious talent around him. He saw guys leave which added more pressure on him. Kaleb Wesson is leaving off where he ended last year’s great freshman campaign. Jackson’s assists are a tad down and Wesson has just over five boards per game.

Ohio State has found some good contribution from their freshmen. Duane Washington is in double-figures in the early going while Luther Muhammed is doing what we all expected form him. The problem though is that they aren’t finding consistent enough scorers outside the top-two guys. Some of the upperclassmen need to start putting the ball in the basket.

We find ourselves circling back to the great road wins. It’s a real hard thing to ignore. They did put up a 100 spot on Fort Wayne and haven’t allowed more than 61 in a game yet. Which is impressive after beating the Bearcats and Bluejays. They will get Syracuse and UCLA as their only other good non-conference opponents so those are must-wins if they want to shoot up higher on this list.

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