Ohio State men’s basketball jumps to No. 19 in AP Poll

After climbing to as high as No. 2 in the AP Poll early in the season, Ohio State hit their annual January swoon right on cue, going 2-5 in the godforsaken month. That cold streak not only dropped them out of the AP Poll, but knocked them to the very bottom of the conference standings as well.

The Buckeyes came out of it, though, going 6-2 in February. They’re 1-0 in March already, as the Buckeyes were able to pull away late on Sunday afternoon and beat Michigan 77-63. Powered by Duane Washington Jr.’s 20 points and CJ Walker’s best game of the season (15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), Ohio State put a game between themselves and the Wolverines in the standings, with two games left on the schedule.

Chris Holtmann’s squad was rewarded for their win, jumping to No. 19 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. Up four spots from No. 23 last week, Ohio State is heating up at just the right time. On top of that, they’re doing it shorthanded, with Musa Jallow, Kyle Young, D.J. Carton, and Alonzo Gaffney all currently unavailable.

Kansas was the unanimous No. 1, with Gonzaga, Dayton, Baylor, and San Diego State rounding out the top five.

Seven other Big Ten teams are included in this week’s poll as well, as Maryland (9), Michigan State (16), Iowa (18), Penn State (20), Illinois (23), Wisconsin (24), and Michigan (25) are all hoping to translate recent success into success in the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks. No other B1G team received votes in the poll.

Check out the full poll below: