Buckeye Basketball Teams Both Ranked Among Nation’s Top 10 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball teams are both rated among the Associated Press Poll’s Top 10 teams nationally this week, a first in OSU history. The squads have experience in the Top 10 but never have the two teams been among the Top 10 programs in the same week.
The women’s team is 25-2 heading into the 2006 Big Ten Tournament this week in Indianapolis. They will carry a No. 5 ranking into their quarterfinal game Friday vs. either Penn State or Wisconsin. The women’s team has remained in the Top 10 all season after starting at the No. 4 spot. Last year, Ohio State reached its highest ranking all-time when the Buckeyes were No. 2 in the AP poll for three weeks in February.
The men’s team is 21-4 and rated No. 9 by the AP in its poll released Monday. It’s the first Top 10 ranking for the Buckeyes since the end of the 1999-2000 season. The squad was No. 8 in the final poll that year.
The women’s team claimed the outright regular season Big Ten title with a 15-1 league record this year. The men travel to Northwestern (8 p.m./ESPN Plus/WBNS 10 TV) Wednesday with a chance to secure at least a tie for the regular season league championship. Second-year head coach Thad Matta’s Buckeyes are in position to earn the title outright should his team win the remaining two league games to finish 12-4 in the Big Ten standings.
The men’s basketball Buckeyes play host to Purdue in the regular season finale Sunday at Value City Arena. Game time is set for noon. The contest will be televised by ESPN Regional Television and broadcast locally on WBNS 10 TV. Ohio State seniors Terence Dials, Matt Sylvester, J.J. Sullinger and Je’Kel Foster will be honored during pregame festivities.
