Ohio State's moving on up.
After wins at home against Cincinnati and UMass Lowell to open the 2019-20 season, the Buckeyes rose from No. 18 to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll that was released on Monday afternoon.
A week after having four top-25 teams, the Big Ten now has three teams inside the top 25, with No. 3 Michigan State and No. 7 Maryland joining Ohio State. Purdue dropped out of the ranking, though the Boilermakers picked up 21 votes.
Last year, the Buckeyes topped out at No. 13 in the poll. If they pull off an upset of No. 10 Villanova on Wednesday, there's a chance they could reach 13th next week. The game against the Wildcats will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center.
Along with Villanova, two teams that Ohio State will face in non-conference matchups in December – No. 6 North Carolina (Dec. 4, road) and No. 1 Kentucky (Dec. 21, neutral site) – remain ranked inside the top 10.
| Rank | Team | Conference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky (2-0) | SEC | 1,622 (64) |
| 2 | Duke (2-0) | ACC | 1,538 |
| 3 | Michigan State (1-1) | Big Ten | 1,451 |
| 4 | Louisville (2-0) | ACC | 1,425 (1) |
| 5 | Kansas (1-1) | Big 12 | 1,354 |
| 6 | North Carolina (2-0) | ACC | 1,187 |
| 7 | Maryland (2-0) | Big Ten | 1,166 |
| 8 | Gonzaga (2-0) | West Coast | 1,136 |
| 9 | Virginia (2-0) | ACC | 1,134 |
| 10 | Villanova (1-0) | Big East | 1,064 |
| 11 | Texas Tech (2-0) | Big 12 | 888 |
| 12 | Seton Hall (2-0) | Big East | 869 |
| 13 | Memphis (2-0) | AAC | 828 |
| 14 | Oregon (2-0) | Pac-12 | 804 |
| 15 | Florida (1-1) | SEC | 616 |
| 16 | Ohio State (2-0) | Big Ten | 544 |
| 17 | Utah State (2-0) | Mountain West | 507 |
| 18 | Saint Mary's (1-0) | West Coast | 438 |
| 19 | Arizona (2-0) | Pac-12 | 415 |
| 20 | Washington (1-0) | Pac-12 | 373 |
| 21 | Xavier (2-0) | Big East | 370 |
| 22 | Auburn (2-0) | SEC | 247 |
| 23 | LSU (1-0) | SEC | 237 |
| 24 | Baylor (1-1) | Big 12 | 179 |
| 25 | Colorado (1-0) | Pac-12 | 151 |
