COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes are ranked in the national polls once again as Chris Holtmann’s squad squeaked into the latest AP Top-25 rankings as the No. 25 team after wins last week against Rutgers and Purdue, both games at home.

Ohio State had been out of the polls for the past four editions of the rankings and started this season as the No. 18 preseason team and climbed as high as the No. 2 team in the nation at the end of December. Ohio State would see its ranking plummet and then eventually fall out of the polls after a January swoon saw Ohio State go 2-5 over the month.

Since then, Ohio State is 4-1 in Big Ten play and on a two-game winning streak.

For as strong as the Big Ten is, there are only four teams in the top-25 of the AP poll from the conference, including Ohio State. Both Maryland and Penn State are ranked in the top-10 while Iowa joins Ohio State in the top-25 of the rankings.

RELATED: Associated Press Top-25 Rankings

Ohio State is ranked No. 18 in the NET rankings, one of the metrics that the NCAA Selection Committee uses in terms of seeding teams in the NCAA Tournament and picking who will be part of the 68-team tournament as at-large teams. 10 teams from the Big Ten are in the top-40 of the NET rankings with Minnesota just outside the top-40 at No. 44.

The Buckeyes have six regular season games to go in conference play, three at home and three on the road. Ohio State next faces No. 20 Iowa in Iowa City (Iowa) on Thursday for a 7:00pm (ET) game. The Buckeyes will return home on Sunday for a game against No. 7 Maryland.

The Buckeyes and the rest of the Big Ten will head back to Indianapolis in mid-March for the Big Ten Tournament. As of today, the Buckeyes would be in the 8-9 game against Michigan and would start play on March 12th. But there is a long way to go for everyone and nothing is set for seeding in the Big Ten or NCAA tournaments, so every game is critical.