Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball: 2021 power rankings heading into conference tournament

By Ryan Kay

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Duane Washington Jr. (4) is guarded by Michigan Wolverines forward Isaiah Livers (2) during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten conference basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on February 21, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 17
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Duane Washington Jr. (4) is guarded by Michigan Wolverines forward Isaiah Livers (2) during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten conference basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on February 21, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 17 /
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Ohio State Buckeyes Duane Washington Jr. Justice Sueing Big Ten Basketball Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 33
Ohio State Buckeyes Duane Washington Jr. Justice Sueing Big Ten Basketball Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 33 /

. 18-7. . Buckeyes . 4. team. 490

Wins

*Illinois State
*UMass Lowell
*Morehead State
*Cleveland State
*@Notre Dame
*UCLA (neutral site)
*Rutgers (twice)
*Nebraska
*Northwestern
*@Illinois
*@Wisconsin
*Penn State (twice)
*@Iowa
*@Maryland
*Michigan State
*Indiana

Loses

*@Northwestern
*Purdue (twice)
*@Minnesota
*Michigan
*@Michigan State
*Iowa

Net ranking: 8

KenPom ranking: 7

AP ranking: 7

Reasons for Hope: The Buckeyes have some very impressive victories and is one of the few teams to have multiple wins away from home against quality teams like UCLA who is currently in first place in the Pac-12 and teams currently ranked in the AP top 25 poll in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Also, Ohio State’s offense for the most part has been very productive this season scoring 80 or more points 10 times this season.

Reasons to be Pessimistic: Ohio State has lost their last three games with two of those losses being on their home court. The offensive output has decreased by 10 or more points over the past three games. Hopefully for the Buckeyes offense can pick up and begin to score in higher numbers again moving forward.

Brief Overview of the Season

Earlier this season the Buckeyes were one of the most intriguing and fun teams to watch in non-conference play. Ohio State’s depth and different players stepping up at various times have been fun to experience and watch for Buckeye fans. Ohio State on paper doesn’t look like they have a ton of depth but they actually can easily go nine deep. The Buckeyes need to rely on their depth moving forward to secure a No. 4 and or 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Had this ranking been done last week, the Buckeyes would have more than likely been ranked in the top-3 in this Big Ten ranking. However, Ohio State lost to Michigan and struggled and lost to Michigan State and Iowa.

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann is continuing to turn his program back into a top-tier Big ten squad and his big 3 of E.J. Liddell, Duane Washington Jr., and  Justice Sueing look to lead the Buckeyes to at least an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament. However, it is not how you start necessarily but how you finish which is the most important. Ohio State has easily surprised many college basketball experts again this season and the Buckeyes next play Illinois on Saturday.

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