Last season was the first time the Ohio State basketball program had gotten to the NCAA Tournament in four years. It was a step in the right direction. However, they did not win a game, losing to TCU in the first round. It was a disappointing end to the Bruce Thornton era.
Heading into this year, the Buckeyes have more young talent than at any point in the Jake Diebler era. He has two five-star freshmen coming onto the scene. That's not enough for AP Poll voters to think that the Ohio State Buckeyes are one of the 25 best programs in the country.
Ohio State basketball sits outside the preseason top 25
The preseason AP Poll was released, and the Buckeyes were nowhere to be found. They were outside the top 25. However, they were in the "others receiving votes" category, essentially sitting 29th. Only five Big Ten teams are in the preseason poll, and Ohio State isn't one of them.
Illinois, Michigan State, TTUN, USC, and UCLA are the teams that make an appearance. Purdue is just ahead of the Buckeyes in the "others receiving votes" category. Ohio State was also predicted to finish eighth in the Big ten by the media in the Big Ten.
Without Thornton, Ohio State has lost its best player. He was the only consistent source of offense last season. Devin Royal is also gone. Juni Mobley returns, and Anthony Thompson and LJ Smith are going to get an opportunity to shine as freshmen. It's going to be a different style of ball this year.
The biggest issue for Diebler is the center spot. It's unclear what kind of production they will get from that spot. Ivan Njegovan will likely start, but he hasn't shown signs of improvement over the last few years. It's an issue that they are going to have all season long.
Expectations are for Ohio State to advance in the NCAA Tournament
Ross Bjork gave Diebler the necessary resources to recruit some big-time players. Now it's time for him to deliver on expectations. Getting to the NCAA Tournament every year should be the bare minimum. The expectation should be for the Buckeyes to advance in the Big Dance.
Should they be making the Final Four every year? No. But there is no reason they should be advancing to the Sweet 16 every few years. A Final Four shouldn't be out of the question with the resources given to this program. Diebler knew that from the moment he took the job.
The program seems to be moving in the right direction with Diebler as the head coach. Now, it's time for him to show some meaningful progress that can get the fans excited. Winning in March is something fans haven't gotten to experience in quite a long time.
Ohio State's season gets off to an interesting start, as they will play 25th-ranked BYU on November 2nd at a neutral site. That will be a quick test to see how good this young but talented team really is.
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