Ohio State's men's basketball team is about to be one of the top five teams in the country.
With their 89-85 win on the road over No. 8 Iowa on Thursday night, the Buckeyes likely locked up a spot in the top five of next week's AP Top 25.
Ohio State was already ranked seventh in the country in this week's AP poll, and three teams ranked in the top six – No. 3 Villanova, No. 5 Houston and No. 6 Texas – have already lost this week.
The Buckeyes don't play again until Monday night, when they play Maryland on the road (9 p.m., FS1), and a top-10 win on the road – Ohio State's second top-10 win and fifth top-15 win of the season, with all but one of those coming away from home – should be enough to propel them into the top five of the poll that will be released Monday at noon.
Ohio State now holds a 15-4 record for the season, including a 9-4 record in Big Ten play, and has won seven of its last eight games.
Ohio State now has the most Quadrant 1 wins in the country, with seven.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 5, 2021
Assuming the top-five ranking comes to fruition, it will be the first time Ohio State has been ranked in the top five since December 2019, when the Buckeyes (who finished the shortened season ranked 19th) were ranked in the top five for four straight weeks before a January collapse knocked them out of the top 25 altogether.
It will be the first time since 2012, when the Buckeyes went to the Final Four, that Ohio State has been ranked in the top five in February.
Already projected to be a No. 2 or 3 seed in various bracketologies this week, Ohio State has now thrust itself well within the conversation for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it can stay hot for the next month.
