Ohio State Men’s Basketball Drops To No. 23, Women’s Hoops Moves Up To No. 16 In AP Poll

The Ohio State men’s basketball team bounced back to beat UCLA after losing its first game to Purdue, dropping three spots to No. 23 in the Associated Press Poll, and the women’s hoops squad rose one spot to No. 16 without playing a game due to COVID-19. 

The 6-1 men’s basketball team fell 67-60 to Purdue before beating UCLA 77-70, but its first loss of the season caused the squad to drop to No. 23.

In the men’s poll, Gonzaga remained at No. 1 with Baylor at No. 2, while Kansas jumped three spots to No. 3, while Iowa dropped one spot to No. 4 and Villanova moved up two spots to No. 5. Michigan State fell from No. 4 to No. 12 after losing 79-65 to Northwestern, who is 5-1. 

Beyond the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes, and Spartans, the Big Ten boasts four other teams in this week’s AP poll. Wisconsin ranks No. 9, Rutgers is No. 11, Illinois ranks No. 18 and Michigan is No. 19.

Outside of the top 25 in the men’s poll, Indiana also received votes at No. 30, Purdue was No. 36, Northwestern ranked No. 38, and Minnesota was No. 40.

In the women’s poll, the Big Ten features five teams in No. 14 Maryland, No. 15. Northwestern, the No. 16 Buckeyes, No. 17 Michigan, No. 19 Indiana, and No. 25 Michigan State. Iowa is outside the top 25 at No. 38 with Rutgers ranked No. 39.

The women’s basketball team had its Dec. 15 matchup with St. Mary’s canceled due to COVID-19 and its Dec. 19 game against Iowa postponed last week, and its Dec. 23 matchup with Maryland and Dec. 31 game against Michigan State have already been postponed. Kevin McGuff’s squad is next scheduled to play Jan. 4 against Penn State.

The men’s basketball team returns to Value City Arena for a matchup with the No. 11-ranked Scarlet Knights on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 4:30 p.m. ET before traveling to Northwestern for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday, Dec. 26.

What follows are the AP polls for both women’s basketball and men’s hoops:

Women’s Basketball AP Top 25 Poll

RK TEAM REC PTS TREND
1 Stanford STAN (26) 6-0 742 –
2 Louisville LOU (1) 5-0 693 –
3 UConn CONN (1) 4-0 676 –
4 NC State NCST (2) 8-0 674 –
5 South Carolina SC 5-1 641 –
6 Arizona ARIZ 6-0 600 –
7 Baylor BAY 7-1 558 –
8 Oregon ORE 6-0 557 1
9 Texas A&M TA&M 8-0 491 1
10 UCLA UCLA 5-1 461 1
11 Arkansas ARK 8-1 435 1
12 Mississippi State MSST 5-1 417 1
13 Kentucky UK 7-1 391 4
14 Maryland MD 5-1 381 –
15 Northwestern NW 3-0 325 1
16 Ohio State OSU 4-0 255 1
17 Michigan MICH 5-0 248 2
18 DePaul DEP 4-2 203 6
19 Indiana IU 3-2 175 4
20 Texas TEX 5-1 168 2
South Florida USF 4-1 168 3
22 Syracuse SYR 5-1 107 4
23 Gonzaga GONZ 4-2 82 2
24 Missouri State MOST 4-2 76 4
25 Michigan State MSU 6-0 55 1

Others receiving votes: Georgia 30, North Carolina 28, Oregon State 25, South Dakota State 21, Iowa State 19, Tennessee 12, Arizona State 8, Iowa 6, Rutgers 6, Wake Forest 4, Georgia Tech 4, Rice 3, Villanova 3, Alabama 2

Dropped from rankings: Oregon State 21

Men’s Basketball AP Top 25 Poll

RK TEAM REC PTS TREND
1 GONZ(61) 4-0 1597 –
2 BAY(3) 5-0 1538 –
3 KU 7-1 1426 2
4 IOWA 6-1 1365 1
5 VILL 7-1 1304 2
6 HOU 5-0 1272 –
7 WVU 7-1 1225 1
8 TENN 4-0 1109 2
9 WISC 6-1 1051 3
10 TEX 7-1 1035 1
11 RUTG 6-0 878 8
12 MSU 6-1 839 8
13 CREI 6-2 773 4
14 MIZ 5-0 768 2
15 TTU 6-2 661 1
16 UVA 3-1 510 1
17 UNC 5-2 492 5
18 ILL 5-3 468 5
19 MICH 6-0 367 6
20 DUKE 3-2 352 1
21 FSU 4-1 335 6
22 XAV 8-0 249 4
23 OSU 6-1 245 3
24 VT 6-1 181 2
25 ORE 6-1 167 1

Others receiving votes: San Diego State 146, Richmond 142, Saint Louis 64, Arkansas 54, Indiana 53, Clemson 28, Florida 20, Georgia 19, Colorado 13, Purdue 9, BYU 9, Louisville 8, Northwestern 7, UCF 6, Minnesota 4, Oklahoma State 3, UCLA 3, LSU 2, Western Kentucky 2, SMU 1

Dropped from rankings: San Diego State 18, Louisville 23, Clemson 24

Photos courtesy of Dept. of Ohio State Athletics.

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