Where Ohio State Stands With Five Games Remaining In The Regular Season

Ohio State is over three months through its 2025-26 regular season and has already accomplished more than some thought it would during the entire season. The Buckeyes, which began the season on the outside looking in on the Associated Press’ Preseason Top-25, have won 22 games, including three over teams currently ranked in the top-20 in the country.

With that success under their belt, the Buckeyes have set themselves up well for success in the postseason. In addition to being ranked in the top-10 in the latest edition of the top 25 rankings, the Buckeyes are projected as a No. 3 seed in the latest Bracketology update by ESPN’s Charlie Creme.

McGuff said after Ohio State’s most recent 80-64 win over Oregon on Feb. 8 that even he may not have predicted his team’s success up to this point.

“I knew I really liked our team and I thought we had a lot of good pieces, but I also knew we had a long way to go,” McGuff said. “I think (as far as) where we are right now, that’s been the key. We’ve gotten a lot better… It’s a credit to our team just committing to showing up every day and working hard and making sure we get a little bit better.”

The Buckeyes, which currently sit in third in conference standings, are technically still in the running for the Big Ten regular season title with an 11-2 record. But despite being just 2.5 games back from first-place, the conference-leading Bruins are still undefeated (14-0) against Big Ten foes and have shown no signs of slowing down.

With each of their last five regular-season opponents currently sitting in the top half of the league, Ohio State has plenty of work to do to finish in the top four of the conference and automatically make the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.

The Buckeyes’ regular-season ending stretch is undoubtedly their toughest of the regular season. Ohio State will face No. 20 Maryland for the second time this season on Sunday, before taking on a Minnesota team that currently sits in fifth place in the Big Ten standings. After taking on a USC team that is currently on a five-game winning streak, the Buckeyes will conclude their regular season with back-to-back games against No. 7 Michigan and No. 13 Michigan State.

As she has all season, sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge will have a huge say in how the Buckeyes fare in their gauntlet to end the season. Despite having a sensational freshman season for the Buckeyes on the way to earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, she has made huge improvements this year. The Buckeyes’ star is averaging a team-high 22.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, all while shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

Cambridge ranks seventh nationally, averaging 22.5 points per game, and has been particularly effective as of late.

Over the Buckeyes’ last 10 games, Cambridge is averaging 27.2 points per game on 98/184 shooting (53.2 percent).

“She obviously is a special player,” McGuff said of Cambridge after Ohio State’s 81-58 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 29. “We rely on her for quite a bit. And I think she has a sense of maturity about her. She’s still a young player, but she’s matured quite a bit.”

At least during its win over Oregon, Ohio State showed it can win without Cambridge being in the driver’s seat as a scorer. Cambridge still went for 19 points against the Ducks, but sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä (23 points) and junior guard Kennedy Cambridge (20 points) were Ohio State’s first and second-leading scorers, respectively.

McGuff said it’s a good sign that the Buckeyes have others available to step up when opposing teams try to negate Jaloni Cambridge’s scoring prowess.

“They obviously committed some resources and scouting to try to slow Jaloni down, and I thought she reacted great and gave the ball up to other great players on the team,” McGuff said. “(Jaloni Cambridge) had eight assists, and Elsa and Kennedy were two of the beneficiaries of that, where they were able to knock down some shots. I think we’re at our best when we have some balance in the scoring. With as much as Jaloni has been scoring lately, I totally get why someone would try to really slow her down and focus on her. I think she handled it well and her teammates handled it well.”