Buckeyes drop in latest AP Poll after inconsistent week

On3 imageby:Spencer Holbrook01/10/22

SpencerHolbrook

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has battled through some adversity throughout the last month.

It didn’t end because the Buckeyes were back on the floor, though. Just a week after returning to action for the first time in three weeks, the Buckeyes needed to bounce back from a tough loss — without their head coach.

They weathered that storm in a win over Northwestern.

And after the rocky 1-1 week, Ohio State checked in at No. 16 in the latest AP poll, which was released Monday. The Buckeyes moved down three spots in the poll due to their road loss to Indiana before the win over Northwestern.

Baylor remained in the top spot after staying unbeaten with a win in the last week. Gonzaga, UCLA, Auburn and USC rounded out the top five. Five Big Ten teams are currently ranked as league play is in full swing for one of the top conferences in all of college basketball.

For Ohio State, the win over Northwestern was a big one. Coach Chris Holtmann was at home due to health and safety protocols, and his top assistant, Ryan Pedon, was also unavailable. Jake Diebler became the acting head coach, and he earned his first career win. But he isn’t taking credit for it.

“Coach Holtmann’s ability to build this program and the culture of this program,” Diebler said. “Combined with the upperclassmen that we have that have been through some battles, we felt like if anyone was built to withstand this adversity, we felt like it was us.”

Ohio State did withstand the adversity. And now it heads into an uncertain week for its head coach as the No. 16 team in the country.

The full AP Poll can be found below.

AP Top 25 (Jan. 10)

  1. Baylor (61 first-place votes)
  2. Gonzaga
  3. UCLA
  4. Auburn
  5. Southern California
  6. Arizona
  7. Purdue
  8. Duke
  9. Kansas
  10. Michigan State
  11. Houston
  12. LSU
  13. Wisconsin
  14. Villanova
  15. Iowa State
  16. Ohio State
  17. Xavier
  18. Kentucky
  19. Texas Tech
  20. Seton Hall
  21. Texas
  22. Tennessee
  23. Providence
  24. Alabama
  25. Illinois

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