NCAA Basketball: 3 over/under-ranked teams in preseason AP top 25 poll

Under-ranked: Ohio State

Ohio State’s 2020-21 campaign was, in a lot of ways, much like Tennessee’s: nationally ranked to begin the season, showed early promise, and then slip-ups a month in catapulted the Buckeyes out of the top 25 by the start of January.  But whereas the Volunteers struggled to reassert themselves, Ohio State accepted the challenge and ran with it, quickly becoming one of college basketball’s best teams.

Quick victories over Rutgers, Illinois, and Wisconsin – all ranked teams and all on the road – followed by an early February win at Iowa propelled the Buckeyes from the abyss of the unranked to the luscious spot of fourth in the AP Poll.  What transpired afterward was a four-game losing streak to end the regular season, initiated by a home duel against Michigan that, with the exception of Gonzaga and UCLA’s tilt in the Final Four, may have been the best game of the 2020-21 campaign.

For what it is worth, the Buckeyes at least rebounded briefly after their narrow regular-season ending losses to Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois – with a lone game against Iowa serving as the only double-digit loss.  Arguably, Ohio State nearly had a one-seed in its grasp if the Buckeyes had won the Big Ten Tournament – and, although scraping past Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan presented an opportunity, Ohio State fell just short in the title match against Illinois in overtime – which would eventually set up the Buckeyes’ eventual 15-2 upset to Oral Roberts in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Again, the Buckeyes’ 2020-21 season, particularly its ending, appears similar to Tennessee’s – but Ohio State’s reasoning for being hopeful and highly anticipated in 2021-22 differs mightily from the Volunteers.  Whereas the latter’s optimism is based on the potential of newcomers, the Buckeyes will be structured rather differently, courtesy of having returned three of their top five scorers from last season.

While leading scorer Duane Washington Jr. and leading assist man CJ Walker are both gone, the Buckeyes will be bringing back one of the Big Ten’s best players in E.J. Liddell, who ranked second on the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and first in rebounding (6.7 rpg), all the while averaging nearly two assists per game.  Joining him are Justice Sueing (10.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg) and Kyle Young (8.6 ppg and 5.5 rpg), the latter of whom was injured at the tail-end of last season.

This is all without mentioning a triage of incoming transfers in Indiana’s Joey Brunk, Louisiana-Lafayette’s Cedric Russell, and Penn State’s Jamari Wheeler.  While Brunk did not see action last season, Russell was an offensive weapon for the Ragin’ Cajuns, leading the team in scoring (17.2 ppg) behind a 40.0% 3PT clip, whereas Wheeler should suffice as a replacement floor general for Walker, having dished out a team-best 3.5 assists for the Nittany Lions last year.

The Buckeyes were one of the best offensive teams in the nation last year, maintaining the fourth-most efficient offensive in the nation and ranking within the top 100 in 3P% and 2P%.  Despite not being nearly as successful on the defensive end, this is still an Ohio State squad that returns multiple crucial components from a 21-10 team that nearly took a top-seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Replacing Walker may ultimately be the biggest question mark – but the proven talent is there for Chris Holtmann’s squad to be successful.