COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s Dec. 9, and the Associated Press has just released its Top 25 poll with three Big Ten teams sitting in the top five. Among them are a 9-0 Ohio State team at No. 3 and an 8-1 Michigan team at No. 5. Maryland sits at No. 4. The Buckeyes came into the season with high expectations. However, there weren’t many who thought they’d still be undefeated and this high in the rankings with games against Villanova and North Carolina on its early schedule. For the Wolverines, this was year one for head coach Juwan Howard. He’d bring with him a pedigree that would allow Michigan to garner the nation’s top recruits and push the program back to a National Championship-contending level. But this was step one, so those weren’t the expectations. Instead, he coached his team to wins over Iowa State, the the Tar Heels and…
Continue Reading: Ohio State, Michigan and their similar basketball journeys to February
