The Top Five College Basketball Teams in Ohio

Throughout the state of Ohio, there are a lot of talented teams playing college basketball in numerous conferences. You’ve got Xavier and Dayton in the A10, Miami in the MAC; UC is in the Big East, and Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Ohio is known for great football teams high school and college, and their basketball is great to. Ohio was the home of greats like LeBron James and now OJ Mayo who played high school ball in Ohio before moving.

The question is: Who is the best Ohio college basketball team? Is it Dayton, UC, Miami, Xavier, or Ohio State?

5. Miami (OH) Redhawks

Miami (OH) had a decent season going 17-12. The RedHawks are a big defensive team and their threat isn’t when they score high numbers, it’s when they hold their opponents to low numbers.

Against UCLA and Xavier this team kept up with the opposition. They held UCLA to 64 points only losing by five, and they held Xavier to 60 points losing by seven. This is a fighting team but not the best and their record proves it.

4. UC Bearcats

UC is 18-13 currently and are in the Big East which is the hardest conference. They have some talent but are extremely inconsistent. They have big wins against Georgetown and West Virginia but all the other big games they’ve lost.

They came close against Xavier but close doesn’t cut it in college basketball.

The close game at Xavier and the win against West Virginia had something to fuel them. Xavier being their cross town rivals, and former head coach Bob Huggins with West Virginia.

They need to find something that fuels them constantly not just for one game.

Deonta Vaughn their best player and is probably the best thing about this team. He’s averaging a little over 15 points a game, and he’s become more of a team player this season.

If UC has any chance at being a good team next year it’s going to center around this guy.

Another major problem with UC is their head coach Mick Cronin. When you think of UC you can look at what Coach Huggins did here and it was recruit big names. People would come from all over to play for UC just because of him.

Now Xavier is getting the major players around Cincinnati, and winning more games to.

3. Dayton Flyers

Dayton has had a great season this year going 25-6. They’ve had big wins against Marquette, George Washington, and Xavier. But, I don’t know if they can beat some of the bigger teams that the other teams can.

They had a big loss at Xavier in Cincinnati to where they really couldn’t get anything started. They are more of a scoring in transition team than a big perimeter team, and perimeter teams are the most dangerous.

2. Ohio State

Ohio State is 20-9 and is a very talented team. They have some big losses but are terrific for how young they are. They play in the Big Ten so it's harder than most of the other conferences.

Evan Turner is the best player in the Big Ten, doing everything for his team leading in rebounding, assists, steals, and most importantly points. If they make it to the tournament I think they might surprise some people with how far they get.

Thad Matta has another 20-win season under his belt and has done an amazing job of recruiting for this Ohio State team. He is the best coach in Ohio. He also took Xavier to the Elite Eight.

If Ohio State can keep the stars from this season they will do some damage next season with another star recruiting class coming in.

The only problem with Ohio State this season is you don't know what team will show up. If they really played all out they would probably be at the #1 spot on this list.

1. Xavier Musketeers

Xavier is the best team in the state of Ohio. They have the best record at 24-6. They've beat big teams like LSU and Memphis.

The biggest thing this team has is depth they can get into foul trouble and still beat you with their bench. The Dayton Flyers saw that in their game.

Their so talented and it's hard to believe they could be as good as they were last year, but I think they may be better.

All the success is because of Sean Miller and his great coaching ability. He really has taught these guys to play.

I think if any team in the state of Ohio has a chance at making it to the final four it is this team right here. They are coming off a year where they made it to the elite eight and I expect them to get that far again.