Just like college football, we’re all just waiting to see what happens with college basketball this winter. And while whatever eventual model surfaces with football should give us a bit of an idea where hoops will go, nothing is given.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the Ohio State and other college basketball teams from getting back to workouts in preparation for the upcoming 2020-21 season with plenty of fresh faces abounding.

The upcoming season, maybe unlike any other in recent memory is a relative unknown. The Buckeyes lost two four-star recruits (D.J. Carton and Alonzo Gaffney) form the 2019 class, welcomed in a trio of transfers, and has the benefit of using Justice Sueing who had to sit out last season because of transfer rules. The two Wesson brothers are also gone.

That all leaves this season as a big question mark and we’ve seen that with some of the early projections that have come out before all the fun starts.

One of those is the CBS Sports top 25 preseason rankings that has been released from time to time. And now that we have an idea of what college basketball players won’t be entering the NBA draft, we know a little more.

So where does Gary Parrish have the Buckeyes, and what does he say about them?

Next … Where CBS Sports ranks Ohio State basketball

Ohio State basketball – No. 17

What Gary Parrish says about Ohio State

“Ohio State beat Duke for graduate-transfer Seth Towns – a 6-8 forward from Harvard who was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2018. His arrival alone won’t cancel out the departure of Kaleb Wesson, but it’ll help. Meantime, Duane Washington, CJ Walker and Kyle Young should provide Chris Holtmann with an experienced nucleus on a team that is projected to return five of the top nine scorers from a roster that finished No. 8 at KenPom this past season.”

We somewhat agree with this assessment, but feel like the Buckeyes could be a bit underrated. There is a lot of talent back at multiple positions, and if the transfers and newly eligible players remain healthy, this team could surprise.

Hopefully we have a season, and we can see this team develop and gel into a title contender in the Big Ten.