Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Wisconsin and Nebraska make gains after start to league play

By Austin Walther

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrates the 59-54 win over the Maryland Terrapins during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrates the 59-54 win over the Maryland Terrapins during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the first half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the first half against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

8. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)

Previous rank: 8

Ohio State has two big time road wins. But that seems like ages ago. The victories over Cincinnati and Creighton happened before the first rankings came out. That’s why the Buckeyes haven’t moved. They also didn’t hurt themselves or help either with an early season Tournament. The talk has been that Ohio State is just as good as they were last season. But how good are the Bearcats and Blue Jays really?

Their next competition came in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge where they got a nice match up with Syracuse. The Orange fell out of the top-25, but they did get their point guard Frank Howard back. He only recorded one assist and eight points, but Syracuse is final four good with him in the lineup. Kaleb Wesson and C.J. Jackson are the top-two Buckeyes. Jackson scored 19 points, but only dished two assists. Wesson scored 13 along with eight boards.

Ohio State’s point guard is averaging under three assists this year. That seems to be troublesome, but Wesson is still a threat in the paint. The nice thing about the Buckeyes is that they can get a variety of scoring. Sophomore Kyle Young is coming along nicely, dropping double-digits against the Orange and Big Ten opener against Minnesota. They have also seen production from freshmen Duane Washington Jr. and Luther Muhammed. Older Wesson, Andre, has been turning it on lately too.

It’s not fair to say Ohio State is as good as they were last year. We can also be certain though that the Buckeyes will be on the bubble for most of the season. Chris Holtmann is doing a great job in his first-plus year as the head coach of Ohio State.

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