Ohio State moves up to No. 8 in latest AP Poll

Coming off of their second upset of a top-three program— this time knocking off then-No. 3 Purdue, 64-63— the Ohio State Buckeyes (22-5, 13-1) continue to climb up the Associated Press college basketball rankings, and comes in at No. 8 in the latest poll. With a one-game lead in the Big Ten Conference (enhanced by having the tie-breaker in hand over both Purdue and Michigan State), the Buckeyes moved into the top-10 for the first time since Jan. 6, 2014, when they were up at No. 3.

After their wins against Purdue and Iowa last week, on Sunday, it was also announced that the Buckeyes were currently sitting on the No. 4 line for the NCAA Tournament when the selection committee revealed their current Top-16, four weeks before the actual Selection Sunday.

Ohio State came in at No. 14, behind two other Big Ten schools (the aforementioned No. 3 Purdue and No. 11 Michigan State) and two other Ohio schools (No. 4 Xavier and No. 8 Cincinnati). Also, two of the five teams that delivered losses to the Buckeyes were included in the top-16, No. 9 Clemson and No. 12 North Carolina.

Due to the bizarre, over-complicated quadrant system, the selection committee currently has OSU in the East Region along with No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Texas Tech. There is certainly a lot of basketball to be played, but from where this season started, it is always exciting to see the Buckeyes back in the mix for the Big Dance.