The Ohio State women's basketball team may have lost a couple of core pieces from last year, but pollsters still recognize the talent that remains on its roster.
OSU landed No. 14 on the preseason edition of the AP Poll, joining four other schools from the Big Ten in the media's first batch of top-25 rankings.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SOUTH CAROLINA | 0–0 | 745 (27) | – |
| 2 | UCONN | 0–0 | 708 (2) | ▲ 1 |
| 3 | USC | 0–0 | 697 (1) | ▲ 2 |
| 4 | TEXAS | 0–0 | 641 (0) | ▲ 3 |
| 5 | UCLA | 0–0 | 628 (0) | ▲ 5 |
| 6 | NOTRE DAME | 0–0 | 614 (0) | ▲ 5 |
| 7 | LSU | 0–0 | 549 (0) | ▼ 1 |
| 8 | IOWA STATE | 0–0 | 521 (0) | ▲ 17 |
| 9 | NORTH CAROLINA STATE | 0–0 | 510 (0) | ▼ 5 |
| 10 | OKLAHOMA | 0–0 | 441 (0) | ▲ 11 |
| 11 | DUKE | 0–0 | 439 (0) | ▲ 6 |
| 12 | BAYLOR | 0–0 | 422 (0) | ▲ 1 |
| 13 | KANSAS STATE | 0–0 | 390 (0) | ▲ 6 |
| 14 | OHIO STATE | 0–0 | 372 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 15 | NORTH CAROLINA | 0–0 | 285 (0) | – |
| 16 | WEST VIRGINIA | 0–0 | 277 (0) | ▲ 8 |
| 17 | LOUISVILLE | 0–0 | 250 (0) | – |
| 18 | MARYLAND | 0–0 | 227 (0) | – |
| 19 | FLORIDA STATE | 0–0 | 191 (0) | – |
| 20 | OLE MISS | 0–0 | 165 (0) | – |
| 21 | CREIGHTON | 0–0 | 152 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 22 | KENTUCKY | 0–0 | 108 (0) | – |
| 23 | NEBRASKA | 0–0 | 106 (0) | – |
| 24 | ALABAMA | 0–0 | 67 (0) | – |
| 25 | INDIANA | 0–0 | 46 (0) | ▼ 13 |
The Buckeyes captured their second Big Ten regular-season crown in three years in 2023-24, entering postseason play with a 25-4 record and considered a national title contender. Their campaign did not end the way they had hoped.
Ohio State was upset as the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament by eighth-seeded Maryland, then upset as a No. 2 seed in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by seventh-seeded Duke. Guard and leading scorer Jacy Sheldon, guard and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Celeste Taylor and senior center Rebeka Mikulasikova are gone from that squad's starting lineup after exhausting their eligibility, with Sheldon and Taylor drafted into the WNBA.
There's still plenty of talent on the Buckeyes' roster, however, starting with star junior forward Cotie McMahon, who averaged 14.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 2023-24. She's joined by a seasoned wing in Taylor Thierry, who picked up 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game of her own last season. The Buckeyes bolstered that duo with two of the nation's top 25 transfer portal prospects in Kentucky forward Ajae Petty and Oregon guard Chance Gray, a five-star prospect from the recruiting class of 2022.
Ohio State also signed the No. 2 prospect in the recruiting class of 2024, five-star point guard Jaloni Cambridge, alongside two other top-100 prospects in point guard Ava Watson (No. 52) and forward Ella Hobbs (No. 95).
USC headlines the list of Big Ten teams also in the top 25, landing at No. 3 in the AP Poll. UCLA, which joins the Trojans as a new addition to the conference in 2024-25, follows them at No. 5. Nebraska and Indiana round out the list of Big Ten squads at No. 23 and No. 25.
The preseason men's AP Poll also came out on Tuesday, and while Ohio State was not ranked in the top 25, the Buckeyes did receive 29 votes, tied with Michigan State for the 32nd most.
