We might be in the middle of all the excitement that goes with an Ohio State football season that almost didn’t happen, but the Buckeyes’ hoops team will be hitting the floor soon.
And while it won’t happen as early as we expected with the news that OSU has pulled out of the Crossover Classic in South Dakota because of spiking COVID-19 cases there, we’re still less than a month out from tip-off. In fact, the first game of the 2020 season is scheduled to be a home game now on December 2 against Morehead State.
So yeah, things are getting close. So close that the Associated Press released its preseason men’s College Basketball top 25 on Monday. The good news? Ohio State is in the poll. The bad news? Barely. In fact, the Buckeyes check in all the way down at No. 23.
It’s to be expected really. The roster looks drastically different with a ton of turnover. Add that to a couple of guys still coming back from injury, and there are just too many unknowns heading into the season to have confidence that this team is going to compete for a spot anywhere close to the top ten.
BREAKING: Gonzaga is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men's basketball poll; Baylor, Villanova, Virginia and Iowa round out top five.
Full poll: https://t.co/ZJG5mgWrsa pic.twitter.com/pkFyH1yUfH
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) November 9, 2020
So who made the top ten? Gonzaga is No. 1, followed by Baylor, Villanova, Virginia, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Duke, and Kentucky.
NEXT … The rest of the AP College Basketball Top 25
Preseason AP College Basketball Top 25
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Villanova
4. Virginia
5. Iowa
6. Kansas
7. Wisconsin
8. Illinois
9. Duke
10. Kentucky
11. Creighton
12. Tennessee
13. Michigan State
14. Texas Tech
15. West Virginia
16. North Carolina
17. Houston
18. Arizona State
19. Texas
20. Oregon
21. Florida State
22. UCLA
23. Ohio State
24. Rutgers
25. Michigan
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