Ohio State Locked in at No. 2 in Week 17 AP Poll

The Ohio State Buckeyes have solidified themselves as a top team in the country after their third straight week at No. 2.

They're the best team in the Big Ten.

Although there was a lot of movement in the top 25, Ohio State stayed at No. 2 in the Week 17 Associated Press rankings.

The Buckeyes (24-3, 15-1 Big Ten), under head coach Kevin McGuff, have won 14 games in a row, including coming off a Senior Day victory over Maryland, where seven seniors were honored.

Among those rotational players honored included senior guard Rikki Harris, graduate guards Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor and graduate forward Rebeka Mikulasikova.

Sheldon said her journey has been "awesome" and it hasn't felt like five years has gone by already.

“It still hasn’t hit me. I’m not a very emotional person but it won’t hit me [until] our last game," Sheldon said postgame against Maryland Sunday.

Sheldon has led the Buckeyes to a top seed in the Big Ten and Ohio State has clinched at least a share of the conference regular season title. They have to win one of their final two games against Michigan at home on Wednesday or on the road at No. 6 Iowa on Sunday.

Ohio State's last loss came to Michigan on Dec. 30, 2023, in a nine-point loss in Ann Arbor. Sheldon said, however, the Buckeyes are a "completely different team."

“We have an extra chip on our shoulder when we play this team anyways, so that just adds the excitement of this game," Sheldon said.

In addition, Ohio State beat then-No. 2 Iowa on Jan. 21 in overtime at home and the Hawkeyes have dropped two of their six February games thus far, including an unranked loss to Nebraska and a loss to then-No. 14 Indiana.

With the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament coming up, Sheldon said although Taylor and others have started clicking in the offense, she doesn't think her team has gelled fully together yet.

“We’re really getting better and our chemistry is growing but I still don’t think we’ve played a full 40 minutes of our best basketball yet," Sheldon said. "And that’s okay, I think that’s a good thing at this point in the season."

The Buckeyes and Wolverines tip off Wednesday at 7 p.m. from Value City Arena, streaming on Peacock.