Those impressed by Ohio State’s red-hot run through the Big Ten schedule over the past six weeks have good reason to be.
The Buckeyes’ current 10-game stretch is one of just four similarly successful intervals in the past 10 years of the program, and already arguably the second-best during that time with plenty of room to improve upon that standing.
Ohio State has won nine of its past 10 games, all against Big Ten competition, which is something only three other Buckeye teams have done since the 2010-11 season.
That year in particular saw a run through the conference that has not been paralleled by an Ohio State team since, as the Jared Sullinger-led Buckeyes won their first 11 Big Ten games in a row, and 12 of the first 13. They also won their final six conference contests, including all three Big Ten Tournament matchups, to finish 19-2 against conference competition overall, and 16-2 in the regular season.
Ohio State knocked off four ranked teams in that stretch, but managed to not face a single ranked opponent during its Big Ten Tournament run.
However, that team also saw an earlier-than-expected exit in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 despite entering the Big Dance as the No. 1 overall seed.
In 2012-13, Thad Matta and company put together another period that stacks up against the 2020-21 Buckeye run. That Ohio State team, led by Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas, won nine of its final 10 Big Ten games, including 6-of-7 to close out the regular season before three-straight wins to hoist the conference tournament trophy.
That group beat four ranked teams in the aforementioned stretch, including two top four teams in Michigan State and Indiana. Earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the 2012-13 team was upset in the Elite Eight by Wichita State, a No. 9 seed.
It took five more years, including a head coaching change, for the Buckeyes to rattle off another stretch of nine Big Ten wins out of 10, but Chris Holtmann’s very first Ohio State roster did exactly that in 2017-18.
However, unlike the 2020-21 or 2012-13 teams, the stretch wasn’t in quite as consecutive a manner, as the Buckeyes played five nonconference games –– including one loss –– in between their first two Big Ten wins and the rest of their impressive stretch to begin conference play.
But nonetheless, Ohio State won its first nine Big Ten games in a row before taking a conference loss, beating No. 1 Michigan State along the way. The Spartans were the lone ranked team the Buckeyes faced in their first 12 conference matchups that season.
The 2017-18 Buckeyes went on to win 13 of their first 14 Big Ten games and finished 15-3 in the conference during the regular season.
Holtmann’s first Ohio State team didn’t make it as far as either of the two previously mentioned groups though, losing in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament before dropping in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Buckeyes’ streak of nine wins in 10 games includes victories over four ranked opponents, with all four of them in the top 15 at the time. Ohio State has won six games straight, and of its final five regular season games, four are matchups with teams that the Buckeyes already hold wins against this year.
RELATED: Holtmann’s track record in second-time Big Ten matchups
The 2020-21 Buckeyes are already the owners of one of the best Big Ten runs in the program’s past decade, but that resume has a chance to get a whole lot more impressive before all is said and done this season.
