The Ohio State Buckeyes made history Monday, with both football and basketball ranked nationally in the Top 3
Monday, it was announced that the Ohio State men’s basketball team moved up to No. 2 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, after blowing past then No. 7 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a feisty Penn State squad in Columbus.
At 9-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, Christ Holtmann’s bunch has joined Ryan Day’s football team in the Top 2, just six weeks into the rankings.
The Buckeyes began the season ranked No. 16 in the nation with just 280 votes, but quickly climbed their way into the Top 10, then the Top 6 and now the Top 2 at 717 votes.
Not only is Ohio State the top-ranked team in the Big Ten for football and basketball, but also the most impressive program since 2015. What are we referring to here you may ask?
Michigan State was the last program to hold a Top 5 spot in both the AP and USA TODAY polls at the same time for each sport, all the way back in 2015.
For reference, the Buckeyes are No. 2 in football and No. 3 in this week’s basketball AP Poll. Meanwhile, the Spartans were ranked No. 3, fresh off a conference championship win over Iowa on the gridiron and ranked No. 1 on the court by December 7th, 2015.
As impressive as Michigan State’s feat was, the Buckeyes have already upped it, winning a conference championship of their own, while going undefeated and ranking in the Top 3 for both sports in each poll.
Now, we know what you’re probably thinking. The last time the Buckeyes were this good in their highest revenue sports, they lost two national championship games to Florida in the same athletic year.
No need to worry, every other program in the College Football Playoff is unranked in basketball at the moment and far from a championship contender right now. In addition, the Buckeyes are the fourth team to win two games over AP Top 10 teams by 20+ points in a regular season. The previous three went on to cut down the nets, and oh by the way, it’s only December.
That 2006-07 Florida program we mentioned above? The Gators were ranked No. 2 in football and No. 7 in basketball after the 2006 SEC Championship Game. So yeah, one could say the Buckeyes are on pace to do big things.
Even whackier? Florida and Ohio State’s next football game in 2006-07 was in Phoenix at the Fiesta Bowl (Championship) and the basketball Final Four was in Atlanta.
You might want to go ahead and book those flights and hotels for New Orleans and Atlanta, but remember, you didn’t hear it from us.
As great as it is in Columbus right now, the future looks even brighter.
(Ok, we’re probably getting ahead of ourselves here, but…. No. 2 in football, No. 2/3 in hoops, reigning Big Ten Tournament Champions in baseball, No. 7 in wrestling, No. 6 in hockey… Geesh)
What a time to be a Buckeye.
