College Basketball Preseason Top 25: #8 Ohio State

By Kels Dayton
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Updated: September 26, 2013

Aaron Craft will be one of the nation’s most recognizable players in 2014. (USA TODAY Sports)

8. Ohio State Buckeyes

This year’s college basketball season is going to be about young stars. Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Kentucky’s truckload of talent will all be the focus of media attention, ESPN’s College Gameday, and everything else that comes with it. But if in the end, veteran leadership and experience win out over youthful exuberance, Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes could be the last team left standing in April. This isn’t the most talented team Thad Matta has had in Columbus, not by a long shot. But it does have a legitimate chance to bring Matta that elusive national championship he’s been searching for. Senior guard Aaron Craft (10 ppg, 4.6 apg) is the team’s unquestioned leader. His peskiness on defense reaches Joe Pesci-levels of annoyingness, and he knows how to distribute and run the offense. Craft is just 77 steals away from becoming the Big Ten’s all-time leader in that category. He could vie for National Defensive Player of the Year honors with a big season.

For everything that Craft does for the Buckeyes, the most important player to the team’s Final Four hopes this year might be 6-8 junior forward LaQuinton Ross (8.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg). Ross has shown glimpses of the tremendous physical gifts he has, and “glimpsed” Arizona right out of the NCAA Tournament last year with a dagger three-pointer with two seconds left that sent the Wildcats home. He’s got big man size and guard skills, and if he pulls it all together, could be one of the best players in the country. Senior guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. will do all of the dirty work for this team, and has a knack for making big plays when the bucks need it most.

BOTTOM LINE: In a college basketball landscape that is getting younger and more uncertain, the Buckeyes and their nine upperclassmen seem like a good bet. There will be teams with more talent (sometimes much more), but Ohio State should be one of the best teams in the country because it already knows how to play like a team. If LaQuinton Ross develops into the player we all know he can be, Ohio State will have a real chance at getting to the Final Four and perhaps cutting the nets down.

Click here to see our Entire Top 25.