The 2025-’26 ‘BTPowerhouse Season Preview’ series will take an in-depth look at all 18 teams in the Big Ten heading into the 2025-’26 season with analysis on each program’s previous season, roster overhaul,
and top storylines. Each post will also include predictions on each team’s postseason potential.
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The Ohio State Buckeyes had a disappointing 2024-’25 season. It was Jake Diebler’s first full campaign at the helm and things went poorly. While the Buckeyes finished with a winning record, it was by the slimmest of margins and resulted in another March without an NCAA Tournament bid. Fans are now hoping Diebler’s quality recruiting can lead to better results this time around.
Let’s take a look.
1. Last Season.
After the strong finish in Diebler’s first few months on the job in February and March of 2024 as an interim, Buckeye fans were optimistic about where Ohio State would go in his first full year. Unfortunately, as noted above, things didn’t go as planned. The Buckeyes finished 17-15 overall and went just 9-11 in Big Ten play. As a result, the team missed the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.
For most of the season, Ohio State’s primary issue was its inability to close the deal against its toughest opponents. However, as the calendar rolled into February, that expanded, as the Buckeyes started losing against weaker opponents like Nebraska and Northwestern as well. The team did enough to remain near the NCAA bubble for much of the season, but late losses to Indiana and Iowa sunk those hopes.
On the court, the Buckeyes got pretty good play from the backcourt in Bruce Thornton and John Mobley. However, the frontcourt underwhelmed yet again, with a rotating cast of characters. Ohio State consistently failed to get key rebounds and stops, in large part because of that group. If the team is going to be better this time around, it’s going to need to improve upfront.
2. Roster Overlook.
Ohio State had plenty of turnover this offseason. The Buckeyes lost a total of nine players in Colby Baumann, Aaron Bradshaw, Kalen Etzler, Ques Glover, Meechie Johnson, Evan Mahaffey, Austin Parks, Micah Parrish, and Sean Stewart. That group includes six of the team’s top nine in total minutes from last season and Parrish, who finished second on the roster in that category.
The good news for fans is the team adds a variety of newcomers. Ohio State adds three new recruits in Amare Bynum, Mathieu Grujicic, and Myles Herro and four transfers in Gabe Cupps (Indiana), Brandon Noel (Wright State), Josh Ojianwuna (Baylor), and Christoph Tilly (Santa Clara).
This is a sneakily good group of newcomers. Bynum is rated in the top 50 in the 2025 recruiting class and the transfers looks good enough to play early. And the good news for fans is that they might not even have to play extensively because of all the returning pieces. For example, Cupps will likely have a backup role behind Bruce Thornton and John Mobley in the backcourt. And that’s a killer position for the Bucks, as Cupps has proven himself to be a decent Big Ten play already.
3. The Schedule.
-Non-Conference Schedule:
- 10/26 – Ohio (Exh.)
- 11/3 – Indiana (Indy)
- 11/7 – Purdue Fort Wayne
- 11/11 – Appalachian State
- 11/16 – Notre Dame
- 11/20 – Western Michigan
- 11/25 – Mount St. Mary’s
- 11/28 – at Pittsburgh
- 12/13 – West Virginia (Cleveland, OH)
- 12/20 – North Carolina (Atlanta, GA)
- 12/23 – Grambling State
- 2/14 – Virginia (Nashville, TN)
-Conference Schedule:
- 12/6 – at Northwestern
- 12/9 – Illinois
- 1/2 – at Rutgers
- 1/5 – Nebraska
- 1/8 – at Oregon
- 1/11 – at Washington
- 1/17 – UCLA
- 1/20 – Minnesota
- 1/23 – at Michigan
- 1/26 – Penn State
- 1/31 – at Wisconsin
- 2/5 – at Maryland
- 2/8 – Michigan
- 2/11 – USC
- 2/17 – Wisconsin
- 2/22 – at Michigan State
- 2/25 – at Iowa
- 3/1 – Purdue
- 3/4 – at Penn State
- 3/7 – Indiana
-Postseason Schedule:
- March, 2026 – Big Ten Tournament (Chicago, IL)
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As usual, the Buckeyes have an intriguing slate this season. The team gets marquee games against Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and North Carolina in non-conference play. These also present as great opportunities for Ohio State, considering none of those four teams project to be elite, but all carry plenty of “name” cache and have good enough teams to add to the Buckeyes’ resume.
Conference play will be its typical challenge. The most notable pieces of the Big Ten season will be the team’s trip out west to face Oregon and Washington in early January, and a brutal close to the season. Just take a look at this stretch, with KenPom odds noted:
- 2/17 – Wisconsin (59%)
- 2/22 – at Michigan State (38%)
- 2/25 – at Iowa (47%)
- 3/1 – Purdue (40%)
- 3/4 – at Penn State (69%)
- 3/7 – Indiana (67%)
Because of that stretch’s difficulty, it’s going to be vital for Ohio State to build some momentum early. The Buckeyes have struggled with finishing the season in most recent years and that could be the case, given that stretch above.
4. Biggest Obstacle.
For six straight seasons, Ohio State has finished with a defense rated 50th or worse on KenPom, with multiple ratings outside the top 100 altogether. And while Diebler can’t be held responsible for the entirety of that run, he was on Chris Holtmann’s staff and has continued many of Holtmann’s practices. Ending those defensive struggles has to be Ohio State’s top priority this season. Otherwise, it’s likely to be another middling year.
If the Buckeyes are going to progress defensively, the improvement needs to come from the frontcourt. This is where Bynum and Ojianwuna could make a significant impact. Both have the size and athleticism to make an immediate impact on the defensive side of the court. Tilly could also be a darkhorse. However, we’ve seen Ohio State add talented pieces upfront in years past only to see them flounder. It’s impact that one of them can go beyond just being a guy and turning into an all-conference level contributor.
5. Realistic Expectations.
It’s been a rough run in Columbus. The Buckeyes have missed the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons and haven’t made the Sweet 16 since 2013. It’s been one of the longer runs in program history without those accomplishments and Buckeye fans are hoping that can break this time around.
Unfortunately, while Ohio State is poised to improve from last season, the rise is unlikely to be substantial. Most of the key contributors are the same and while there are some talented newcomers, it’s hard to see any of them being a star from day one. And that’s probably what it would take for the Bucks to vastly exceed expectations.
The good news is a modest bump is probably enough to get Ohio State on the right side of the NCAA bubble, and the team should get that. Thornton and Mobley should be great in the backcourt, Royal should continue to ascend, and the frontcourt has plenty of new and interesting options. That should put the squad in a decent position on Selection Sunday.
