Ohio State men’s basketball moves back into AP top 25 poll
![Ohio State players sing "Carmen Ohio" after a win over Indiana on Feb. 1 in Value City Arena. [Adam Cairns]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2020/02/17/NBUX/ghows-OH-d4abc5e1-3467-4445-9cd9-b5935b9e594c-42a9e358.jpeg?width=660&height=456&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
After falling from the No. 2 spot in the Associated Press men’s basketball rankings to out of the top 25 entirely, Ohio State has climbed its way back in again.
On the heels of consecutive home wins against Rutgers and Purdue, respectively, the Buckeyes re-entered the poll Monday at No. 25.
After improving to 11-1 overall with a win against Kentucky in Las Vegas on Dec. 21, Ohio State took a No. 2 national ranking into a game against West Virginia in Cleveland eight days later. The Mountaineers won 67-59, starting what would become a stretch of six losses in seven games for the Buckeyes.
Along the way, they dropped to No. 11, then No. 21, then out of the poll after a 90-76 loss at Penn State on Jan. 18. They would lose their next game, dropping them to 12-7 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play, but they have now won five of their past six to climb back to 17-8 overall and 7-7 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State is projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament according to BracketMatrix.com, which compiles dozens of mock brackets from across the internet.
OSU is the No. 9 team nationally, according to KenPom.com, the No. 18 team in the NCAA’s NET rankings used in helping sort resumes for the tournament and currently would hold the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
The Buckeyes play at Iowa on Thursday before hosting first-place Maryland on Sunday.
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