Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Adam Childs

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: Big Ten logo on the floor before the Big Ten Men's Basketball Final against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines at the Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Wolverines won 71-56. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: Big Ten logo on the floor before the Big Ten Men's Basketball Final against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines at the Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Wolverines won 71-56. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN – MARCH 08: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN – MARCH 08: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

team. 490. . . . Buckeyes . 8

Ohio State may be one of the biggest question marks heading into the 2020 season. They have talent, but they have a lot of new faces they will hope will gel together early to make them a threat in the Big Ten.

Chris Holtmann has done an outstanding job in his time in Columbus and has gotten the most out of the teams he has coached. But he has lost his top player in Kaleb Wesson to the NBA draft and now must replace their most reliable scorer.

A reliable outside game has also been a problem for the Buckeyes, but not as much as the turnover bug. They have been near the top of the Big Ten in turnovers per game and they will need to improve that if they have any shot at making any noise in the conference.

The Buckeyes do return their second and third-leading scorers from last year in Duane Washington Jr and CJ Walker. They will have to shoulder the burden of scoring while the new guys try and mesh with the team.

Holtmann will also rely heavily on transfers this year in Justice Sueing from Cal and Seth Towns from Harvard. Sueing has been with the program for a year but had to sit out due to transfer rules. Towns come over as a scoring machine, but he hasn’t played in a long time due to a serious leg injury.

If both of these guys can slide in and provide the offense that they are capable of, the Buckeyes should be very good. But if they can’t find their stride with their new team it may be a long season for in Columbus.

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