Ohio State Buckeyes Up in AP Poll for Fifth Straight Week
The Ohio State Buckeyes are one of the hottest teams in college basketball.
Kevin McGuff's Buckeyes jumped three spots to No. 2 in the Associated Press Week 15 rankings, their fifth straight week rising in the rankings.
Since Ohio State, No. 18 at that point, defeated then-No. 2 Iowa 100-92 in overtime on Jan. 21, they've kept their 2024 calendar year win streak alive and up to 11.
After then-No. 2 Iowa, then-No. 3 North Carolina State, and then-No. 4 Colorado all lost to teams ranked below the top 15 in the last week, the Buckeyes jumped up to the second-ranked team in the country.
The Buckeyes' only game this week is a Valentine's Day home bout against Nebraska — a win for Ohio State over the team who just defeated the Hawkeyes Sunday would be a Hersey's Kiss to solidify the Buckeyes as the best team in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes went on the road and defeated Minnesota Thursday and Michigan State Sunday thanks to a combined team-high 34 points from graduate guard Celeste Taylor, who seems to have reestablished herself as a dominant scoring threat in Columbus.
Though the Buckeyes have had some close contests during their hot streak, they have really cracked down on their third-quarter full-court press and overall ball distribution.
Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon is back to her scoring ways but has emerged as a rebounding force for her team. Junior forward Taylor Thierry time and time again proves why she deserves another spot on the conference All-Defensive Team. Graduate guard Jacy Sheldon, well, she's continuing to do Jacy Sheldon things.
McGuff has his team in a great spot but the final week of the season is coming up fast and the Buckeyes need to be ready to face Michigan — who holds Ohio State's only conference loss — and Iowa again, this time on the road.
The Buckeyes tip off against the Cornhuskers on Wednesday at 7 p.m., streaming on Peacock.
