Ohio State won't have a number next to its name at the start of the 2022-23 college basketball season.
The Buckeyes received 23 votes in Monday's preseason AP Top 25, but it wasn't enough to land them a spot in the rankings. Ohio State was ranked in the preseason poll in each of the past three seasons, with 2018-19 being the last time the Buckeyes didn't start the year with a ranking.
North Carolina took the No. 1 spot in the poll with Gonzaga, Houston and Kentucky slotting in right after, and Kansas and Baylor tied at No. 5 to round out the upper echelon of the rankings.
Ohio State is scheduled to take on North Carolina on Dec. 17 at Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic in New York City. The Tar Heels lost to Kansas in the national championship game this past spring.
Indiana's No. 13 ranking makes it the highest-rated team in the Big Ten, and Michigan (No. 22) and Illinois (No. 23) are the only other two programs in the conference that will hold rankings at the start of the season.
Nine other unranked programs earned more votes than Ohio State in the preseason poll, including Purdue and Michigan State from the Big Ten. The Buckeyes started last season ranked No. 17 in the preseason poll, but finished without a ranking in the final AP poll.
