With victories against Penn State and then-No. 10 Wisconsin last week by an average of almost 25 points, the Ohio State men’s basketball team retained its No. 1 ranking in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.
A catalyst in both wins for the top-ranked Buckeyes, senior guard Jon Diebler earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after averaging 28.5 points per game last week and shooting 17-for-20 from 3-point territory.
The Buckeyes are followed in both polls by No. 2 Kansas, whose 29-2 record is identical to OSU’s. The Buckeyes received 52 of 65 first-place votes in the AP poll and 25 of 31 in the Coaches poll. The Jayhawks secured all other first-place votes.
After Kansas come two Big East squads, No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 4 Notre Dame. A four-game winning streak, including last week’s victories against then-No. 19 Villanova and then-No. 16 Connecticut, has propelled the Fighting Irish to their highest ranking this season.
Purdue and Wisconsin, the only two teams to beat OSU this year, remain the only other Big Ten teams in either set of rankings. Purdue dropped to No. 9 after a loss to unranked Iowa, and Wisconsin fell to No. 13 after its loss in Columbus.
The Buckeyes now await the Big Ten Tournament and a matchup with either Minnesota or Northwestern at noon on Friday.
