After Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State falls to No. 17 in AP Poll

Losses in March aren’t really good. A loss in the first conference tournament game you play is even worse—especially if your AP Poll ranking is important.

After losing to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the Ohio State Buckeyes fell to No. 17 in the latest release of the AP Poll. With this new edition of the poll, the Scarlet and Gray are the lowest of the Big Ten teams that hold a ranking. Prior to the last-second loss on Friday night, OSU was No. 13 in the country.

At the top, once again, are the Virginia Cavaliers; however, in the No. 2 spot, there is a new occupant: Villanova. Last week, Michigan State held onto the No. 2 ranking, but after losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament to Michigan, the Spartans took a small drop to No. 4.

Michigan, who ended up winning the the conference title, was the biggest mover in the new release of the poll. The Wolverines jumped to No. 7, after being No. 15 last week. For the second-straight year, John Beilein’s program won four games in four days to be kings of the Big Ten Tournament. This time around, UM scored wins over Iowa, Nebraska, MSU and Purdue to cap off their weekend in New York City.

Purdue, the runner-up in the conference tournament, is the third Big Ten team in the top-10 of the rankings, coming in at No. 10.

Below are the full rankings: