Ohio State men’s basketball makes their AP Poll debut at No. 25 this week

While blowout wins over Eastern Illinois, Charleston Southern, and Robert Morris did absolutely nothing for AP Voters, neutral site victories over Cincinnati and Texas Tech did — as the Buckeyes (5-1) jumped into the top-25 this week at No. 25.

During a busy three-day tournament on Maui, Ohio State lost a very physical game against No. 24 San Diego State before blowing the doors off of Cincinnati and beating a (formerly) ranked Texas Tech team while leading for over 37 minutes. The Buckeyes now head to Durham to take on No. 17 Duke (6-2) in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Ohio State upset No. 1 Duke last season at home, 71-66.

Had Ohio State won the entire Maui Invitational, they may have skyrocketed from unranked to top-15 in the nation, like No. 20 Michigan State (5-2) did when they beat Kentucky and Villanova in a matter of days. However, a 2-1 record with one of those being a resume-boosting win over Texas Tech is nothing to scoff at.

After a crazy week where several top-10 teams lost, the top team in this week’s poll is Houston, followed by Texas, Virginia, Arizona, and Purdue.

Five other Big Ten teams were ranked this week. They are: No. 5 Purdue, No. 10 Indiana, No. 16 Illinois, No. 20 Michigan State, and No. 22 Maryland.

Iowa received votes but was left outside the top-five after a 2-1 week at the Emerald Coast Classic.

You can check out the full poll here.