When people think of college basketball states the first ones that come to mind are fairly obvious. Whether it’s North Carolina due to the ACC footprint with Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina and North Carolina State or Kentucky because of the Wildcats and Cardinals, those are often considered the best college basketball states. Sure, some people might think of Indiana just because of the state’s association with basketball, but what people might forget is just how good the state of Ohio is as a collective unit. Perhaps it’s because Ohio is considered a football state or there’s just one Ohio school in the Power Five, but this state has plenty of talent. Let’s start in the south with Cincinnati and Xavier. The Musketeers have one of the best coaches that never gets talked about in Chris Mack, who played at Xavier and is from Cincinnati originally. He guided the Musketeers to the Sweet 16 last season and played Arizona to a tight game. There’s a legitimate shot Xavier can win the Big East this season thanks to some high profile recruiting over the years. Cincinnati won an NCAA Tournament game last season as well, in what has to be one of the weirdest seasons for the Bearcats. They lost their head coach Mick Cronin due to health for the majority of the season, yet still played to a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they return nearly everyone from that team last year and more importantly get Cronin back from his health scare. The team that had the best offseason though…
Continue Reading: Ohio Proving It’s One of the Best Basketball States
