Ohio State men’s basketball jumps to No. 15 in the AP Poll

Another week, another win the in Big Ten for the now - No. 15 Buckeyes, plus a victory over a feisty non-conference opponent. With their two victories — and a current four-game winning streak — Ohio State (8-2, 2-0) jumped to No. 15 in this week’s AP Poll, up six spots from last week.

OSU overcame 13 turnovers and some lackadaisical defense last Wednesday to fight off Towson at home, 85-74. On Saturday, Chris Holtmann’s team welcomed the Wisconsin Badgers to town and promptly sent them packing, 73-55. The 55 points Ohio State allowed were the fewest they’ve held any opponent to so far this season, and showed a marked improvement in their defense from earlier in the week. E.J. Liddell led the way with 28 points, but the Cedric Russell, Meechie Johnson, Zed Key, and Kyle Young all contributed in big ways as well.

After debuting at 17 in the original poll, the Buckeyes dropped out of the rankings by week three after losses to No. 22 Xavier and Florida. Since then, they’ve won four in a row and have won their first two B1G games. KenPom considers them the 15th-best team in the nation, and the seventh-most efficient offense.

Ohio State is set to take on the No. 21 Kentucky Wildcats (7-2) this Saturday evening in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas. Kentucky’s seven-game win streak was snapped when they lost to unranked Notre Dame on Saturday. The average KenPom rank of the seven teams Kentucky has beaten this season is 278.

Baylor took over the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll after pummeling No. 9 Villanova yesterday. The rest of the top five were No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Gonzaga.

Two other B1G teams were included in this week’s poll. They are: No. 3 Purdue and No. 12 Michigan State. Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota also received votes.

You can check out the full poll here: