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Ohio State men’s basketball receives one first-place vote in Big Ten media poll, lands eighth overall
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
The Buckeyes received a first-place for the first time in over a decade.
The Big Ten’s “official/unofficial” men’s basketball media poll was released on Wednesday afternoon — the first 18-team edition of the poll managed by the Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Jardy and the Indianapolis Star’s Zach Osterman.
Ohio State was picked to finish eighth in the conference this season, one spot lower than it was picked to finish last year in this poll. The Buckeyes were one of six different teams to receive first-place votes.
The pre-season poll has changed hands over the years from Jardy, to the Big Ten Network, to the Big Ten conference itself, but it appears that this is the first year since 2011 that Ohio State received a first-place vote in the poll.
Purdue was picked to repeat as league champions with 20 of the 33 first-place votes, just ahead of Indiana, UCLA, and Illinois. The last team to win at least a share of the Big Ten title in three straight seasons was Michigan State from 2018-2020. The last team to win the league outright three years in a row was Purdue from 1994-1996.
You can check out the full preseason media poll here:
Of the four programs that hired new coaches this off-season, Ohio State was the highest ranked at eighth, followed closely by Dusty May’s Michigan Wolverines at ninth. USC, which hired former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman this off-season, was picked to finish 14th. Washington hired Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle, and were picked to finish 15th.
In the new 18-team Big Ten, an eighth place finish likely puts Ohio State just on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, which gives good insight about what the collective media thinks about Jake Diebler’s first team. Although he’s the only first-time head coach in the conference, Diebler may have been given a bit more credit since he’s been at Ohio State for a total of eight seasons dating back to 2014, including a brief stint as interim head coach at the end of last season. Unlike May, Musselman, and Sprinkle, Diebler is not walking into a new locker room with a completely fresh group of players.
The Buckeyes received one singular first-place vote in the poll, which marks the first time in over a decade Ohio State has been picked to win the league by anyone in the media. It seems a bit outlandish to pick a team that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in two years to win the league, but Diebler did add five-star talents from the transfer portal in Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw, an all-SEC guard in Meechie Johnson, and return Bruce Thornton, who was selected First Team All-Big Ten in this same media poll.
The Buckeyes range of outcomes is very broad, and that voter clearly was betting on Ohio State reaching its proverbial ceiling. Voting results for each individual voter were not released on Wednesday, so it’s not currently known which media member picked Ohio State to finish first.
Ohio State opens up the season on November 4 against the Texas Longhorns in Las Vegas. Diebler’s first game as head coach will come against Rodney Terry, who, like Diebler, was elevated to interim head coach at Texas in December 2022. He then coached Texas to the Elite Eight and, like Diebler, was rewarded with the full-time head coaching job.
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Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
The Buckeyes received a first-place for the first time in over a decade.
The Big Ten’s “official/unofficial” men’s basketball media poll was released on Wednesday afternoon — the first 18-team edition of the poll managed by the Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Jardy and the Indianapolis Star’s Zach Osterman.
Ohio State was picked to finish eighth in the conference this season, one spot lower than it was picked to finish last year in this poll. The Buckeyes were one of six different teams to receive first-place votes.
The pre-season poll has changed hands over the years from Jardy, to the Big Ten Network, to the Big Ten conference itself, but it appears that this is the first year since 2011 that Ohio State received a first-place vote in the poll.
Purdue was picked to repeat as league champions with 20 of the 33 first-place votes, just ahead of Indiana, UCLA, and Illinois. The last team to win at least a share of the Big Ten title in three straight seasons was Michigan State from 2018-2020. The last team to win the league outright three years in a row was Purdue from 1994-1996.
You can check out the full preseason media poll here:
Of the four programs that hired new coaches this off-season, Ohio State was the highest ranked at eighth, followed closely by Dusty May’s Michigan Wolverines at ninth. USC, which hired former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman this off-season, was picked to finish 14th. Washington hired Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle, and were picked to finish 15th.
In the new 18-team Big Ten, an eighth place finish likely puts Ohio State just on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, which gives good insight about what the collective media thinks about Jake Diebler’s first team. Although he’s the only first-time head coach in the conference, Diebler may have been given a bit more credit since he’s been at Ohio State for a total of eight seasons dating back to 2014, including a brief stint as interim head coach at the end of last season. Unlike May, Musselman, and Sprinkle, Diebler is not walking into a new locker room with a completely fresh group of players.
The Buckeyes received one singular first-place vote in the poll, which marks the first time in over a decade Ohio State has been picked to win the league by anyone in the media. It seems a bit outlandish to pick a team that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in two years to win the league, but Diebler did add five-star talents from the transfer portal in Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw, an all-SEC guard in Meechie Johnson, and return Bruce Thornton, who was selected First Team All-Big Ten in this same media poll.
The Buckeyes range of outcomes is very broad, and that voter clearly was betting on Ohio State reaching its proverbial ceiling. Voting results for each individual voter were not released on Wednesday, so it’s not currently known which media member picked Ohio State to finish first.
Ohio State opens up the season on November 4 against the Texas Longhorns in Las Vegas. Diebler’s first game as head coach will come against Rodney Terry, who, like Diebler, was elevated to interim head coach at Texas in December 2022. He then coached Texas to the Elite Eight and, like Diebler, was rewarded with the full-time head coaching job.
Continue reading...