For the first 13 games of the season, Ohio State looked like anything but a rebuilding team. Despite losing Keita Bates-Diop, the Big Ten player of the year, along with Jae-Sean Tate, Kam Williams and Andrew Dakich, the Buckeyes jumped out to a 12-1 start that featured a couple impressive road wins.
Back for his second season as the team’s head coach, Chris Holtmann led his team to Cincinnati for the season opener, and the Buckeyes pulled out an eight-point win against the Bearcats. Eight days later, they traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, and beat Creighton by nine points.