2026-27 Big Ten offseason at a glance: Ohio State Buckeyes

Welcome to “Big Ten offseason at a glance,” a team-by-team look at the conference at the start of the summer. We’ll examine roster movement for each Big Ten roster and give an early outlook for each Big Ten program for the 2026-27 season.

Up next: Ohio State (21-13 overall in 2025-26, 12-8 in Big Ten play)

Previously: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Wisconsin, Iowa, Maryland, Oregon, Purdue, USC, Indiana, UCLA

Ohio State won three straight games late in the regular season to make the NCAA tournament last spring and lost in the first round in a heartbreaker to TCU.

Hired as the interim coach in 2024 after the dismissal of Chris Holtmann, Jake Diebler finished his second full season in Columbus with an NCAA Tournament appearance, the program’s first since 2022.

The tournament appearance cooled the 39-year-old first-time head coach’s seat and another trip to the Big Dance will serve as an extra cushion for Diebler’s future at Ohio State. Early projections for the 2026-27 season have the Buckeyes as a likely March Madness participant next spring.

Ohio State roster movement

Players returning with eligibility: John Mobley Jr., A’mare Bynum, Josh Ojianwuna, Ivan Njegovan

Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: Bruce Thornton, Christoph Tilly, Puff Johnson, Brandon Noel

Players who departed via transfer portal: Colin White (to Akron), Devin Royal (to Villanova), Gabe Cupps (to UIC), Mathieu Grujicic, Taison Chatman (to Utah)

Players arriving via transfer portal: Justin Pippen (from Cal), Andrija Jelavic (from Kentucky), Jimmie Williams (Duquesne), Curtis Givens III (from Memphis)

Players arriving from high school/overseas: Anthony Thompson, Alex Smith, Vuk Lazarevic, LJ Smith

It was another reset offseason for Diebler and company this past spring. The Buckeyes lost the program’s all-time leading scorer and captain in Bruce Thornton, but brought in McDonald’s All-American Anthony Thompson as part of their 2026 high school recruiting class.

With a pair of blue-chip arrivals in Thompson and LJ Smith, who recently moved from the 2027 class into 2026, the Buckeyes have one of the better incoming classes in the conference. Smith was considered a five-star prospect in 2027 before his reclassification and Thompson is the No. 8 player nationally in the final 247Sports Composite rankings for 2026.

What to like about Ohio State

While losing a cornerstone piece like Thornton is monumental, the Buckeyes still have a key returner in John Mobley Jr. The 6-foot-1 guard scored 15.7 points per game on 43.2 percent shooting, becoming a key contributor in his sophomore season. He and forward A’mare Bynum are the two returners who will likely start next season. Bynum, who was terrific down the stretch last season, is a prime candidate to break out next winter.

Thompson will also fit into the starting lineup, providing a youthful spark. A 6-foot-8 small forward, he provides length and high-quality shooting to a Buckeye team that shot 35.7 percent on 3-pointers last season.

The combination of Mobley Jr. and Thompson will be hard to guard when both are on the floor at the same time. Cal transfer Justin Pippen should also provide solid production in the backcourt and Smith, arriving a year earlier than expected, might be too talented to keep off the floor.

What to question with Ohio State

With a plethora of scoring options in the backcourt, the concern for Ohio State rests in its frontcourt.

There aren’t many options at the center position this season in Columbus. Josh Ojianwuna has the best chance of being the guy, but it depends on how he recovers from missing the entirety of the 2025-26 season due to a knee injury. He hasn’t played since February 2025, but was an efficient scorer in the paint for Baylor for two seasons.

There is not much rim protection on the roster, which could be problematic in the Big Ten, a conference that emphasizes play in the paint.

Ohio State’s outlook for the 2026-27 season

Here’s the Ohio State Big Ten schedule for next season:

Home: Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington, Wisconsin

Away: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, UCLA, USC

Home/Away: Iowa, Michigan, Penn State

This season will be an in-between year for Ohio State. They aren’t going to contend in the Big Ten, but they won’t be at the bottom. They will sit in the middle of the conference, but will have the capability to beat anyone in the league, top to bottom.

The expanded NCAA tournament raises the expectations for Diebler in his third season, but the Buckeyes should be on the right side of the bubble come March.

The most recent 2026-27 projections from Bart Torvik have Ohio State at No. 16 nationally.

See More: Commentary, 2026-27 Big Ten preview, Ohio State Buckeyes