Ohio State Basketball Preview: Top 10 Games to Watch in the 2011-12 Season

Ohio State Buckeyes Men's Basketball is one of the most successful programs in college hoops over the last several years.

Thad Matta has posted a 190-57 record in his first seven years as the OSU head coach.

He has led the Buckeyes to four Big Ten regular season championships, three (2007, 2010 and 2011) Big Ten Tournament titles, a runner up finish in the 2007 NCAA Tournament and the 2008 NIT Championship. That's gettin' it done!

Last season, the Buckeyes were the overall No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament and finished the year with a record of 34-3.

Looking towards this season, Ohio State is very confident about how things could turn out in 2011-12.

Jared Sullinger (national freshman of the year), William Buford, Aaron Craft and DeShaun Thomas are all back and ready to roll.

Add a premiere recruiting class that features two McDonald's All-Americans and two other ESPNU Top 100 players, and you have an NCAA Tournament Championship contender.

Here are the Top 10 "Must See" Buckeyes' games in 2011-12.

This week, we have been previewing the same kind of lists for other top college hoops programs, such as: Duke, UConn and Kentucky.

Tomorrow: North Carolina

November 15: Florida at OSU

Right out of the chute, the Buckeyes play against one of the best perimeter trios in the country when they face the Florida Gators.

Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton and McDonald's All-American super-freshman Brad Beal will be a tough unit for OSU's backcourt to deal with.

Walker and Boynton were Florida's top scorers last year, each averaging over 14 points per game.

Aaron Craft's top-level defensive skills will be needed in a big way.

The emergence of Patric Young (pictured) as a front-court force will be tested as he will have the daunting task of checking Jared Sullinger.

Even if he is not a significant scoring threat, Young can make a huge contribution to the Gators' effort if he can keep Sullinger off of the boards at both ends of the court.

November 23: VMI at OSU

I couldn't resist putting this game on this list.

Even though that this will most likely be a 30-40 point blow out, I'm curious to see what will happen when the Buckeyes play against last year's highest scoring team.

Virginia Military Institute led the nation last year in scoring, ringing up just under 88 points per game.

To score that much, VMI put up lots of threes. In fact, they led all D1 schools in that category, too. The Keydets launched 978 shots from beyond the arc last season, more than 100 more than Hartford who was in second place.

That's almost 32 shots from down-town per game.

Austin Kenon (pictured) is the Keydets' leading scorer (18.4 ppg), launching seven three's per game himself. 

What if...and this is a monstrously huge WHAT IF...the long shots just keep on falling for VMI when they face Ohio State.

Could the unthinkable happen? Could a team that is completely overmatched have a chance at taking down an elite-level team like Ohio State?

Possible, but not probable....Sorry VMI.

November 29: Duke at OSU

The ACC-Big Ten Challenge delivers some great games every year, matching the teams from each league in an early season, pre-conference contest.

Duke will be looking to find out who is going to step up and lead this Blue Devils team. With the departures of Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving, Coach K's crew has no player that will be on the court who averaged double figures last season.

Seth Curry (pictured) is the highest returning scorer (9.0 ppg). Frontcourt players such as Ryan Kelly and the Plumlee brothers (now three at a basketball arena near you) could step up into a more significant scoring role...Just lots of question marks.

Austin Rivers, last year's top high school player of the year, will be counted on immediately to carry a decent part of the point production load.

With all of the unknowns that are on the table for Duke, let's face it. They are still the Blue Devils and they will be right there against anyone and everyone on their schedule, including the Buckeyes in Columbus.

While the Plumlees One and Two may not be dynamic scorers, they can get physical and play D down low. Their matchup with Jared Sullinger will have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

December 10: Kansas at Lawrence, KS

Between three early departures for the NBA (the Morris twins, plus Josh Selby) and a significant number of senior "so-longs," the Jayhawks have a lotta replacing to do.

In fact, Bill Self will need to find someone to fill in around 75 percent of the scoring and 67 percent of the rebounding from a year ago.

Thomas Robinson (pictured) is ready for a breakout season for the Jayhawks. He played alongside and behind Marcus and Markieff Morris. Now he's going to be KU's go-to guy down low.

Tyshawn Taylor returns at the point, ready to take on an increased scoring role.

Even with a quality recruiting class arriving, Kansas is going to really work hard to stay in a game like this against a team that is as talented and deep as Ohio State.

But, this will be Ohio State's first road game for 2011-12. Funny things happen early in a season when teams leave the friendly confines of their home arena.

And Allen Fieldhouse is not the easiest place to get your feet on the ground.

February 4: Wisconsin in Madison, WI

Last year, Ohio State was rolling along, having won their first two-dozen games and carrying the No. 1 ranking in the country.

Then they went to Madison, where the Badgers beat the Buckeyes in a close contest.

I don't know if OSU will come into this game undefeated again, but it is just as likely to be a knock-down, drag-out brawl, again this time.

These aren't what I would call finesse teams.

If Jared Sullinger is the best frontcourt player in the Big Ten (and there should be no dispute here), then Jordan Taylor (pictured) is the best backcourt baller in the league.

Taylor, a first team All-Big Ten selection of a year ago, is a master at both running the show and scoring points at the same time. In his case, this is not an either/or proposition.

Bo Ryan will need to find replacements for Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil up front if the Badgers are going to be able to stop Sullinger and the rest of the Buckeyes talented frontcourt.

Expect this game to be a methodical, physical battle. Wisconsin takes care of the ball better than almost any other team in the country. Last year, the Badgers only turned the ball over an unheard of 7.6 times per game.

They are as disciplined and efficient as any team in the country.

If the Buckeyes can force them to turn the ball over (not an easy task) more than normal, then the outcome of this trip to Madison will turn out differently than last year.

February 7: Purdue at OSU

Blowing out a knee and rehabbing enough to get ready to play major college ball again is a big task. Doing it a second time is almost unheard of.

That's exactly what Robbie Hummell (pictured) has done and is doing as he comes back for his senior season for Purdue.

The All Big Ten selection from two years ago is ready to show the college hoops world that he still has it.

Purdue head coach Matt Painter needs for Hummell to find his former form if the Boilermakers have a legit shot at coming out of Columbus with a W.

Gone are JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, the only two Purdue players who averaged double figures in 2010-11.

Lewis Jackson, their diminutive PG, is back and ready to take on an even bigger role in the Purdue attack.

Purdue beat the Buckeyes in West Lafayette last season to hand OSU their second of two regular season losses.

On paper, this won't end up like last season's game. But, they don't decide the game based on analysis and comparisons. They settle it on the court. 

February 18: Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan vs. Ohio State is a big rivalry, regardless of the venue, because these schools simply don't like each other.

And, the fact that the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines all three times they played last year isn't going to sit well with the Michigan coaches, players or fans.

Last season, Michigan had an up-and-down year, but put together a strong February to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, where they were one shot away from bumping off Duke in the second round.

Darius Morris left for the NBA, but everyone else returns for the Wolverines.

Tim Hardaway, Jr and Zack Novack (pictured) will need to lead the way for Michigan to duplicate last season's success.

Straight up, Ohio State is a superior team in just about every possible angle. But this is a rivalry game being played at Crisler Arena. Anything can happen.

February 25: Wisconsin at OSU

While true freshmen don't always play a lot of minutes for Bo Ryan (even Jordan Taylor only played 13 mpg), this year could be different.

The Badgers have two four-star big men (Jarrod Uthoff (pictured)—6'8 200 lbs; Frank Kaminsky—6'10" 260 lbs) who may come in and compete for serious minutes right off the bat.

Wisconsin, like every other team that plays Ohio State this year, will need as much length and bulk as possible to keep the Buckeyes' frontcourt from dominating.

February 29: Northwestern at Evanston, IL

Playing consistent, winning basketball is a tall order for the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten.

NU was No. 25 in the AP poll in December of 2009. That was the only time that they have been ranked since 1969.

Bill Carmody has put together back-to-back 20-win seasons and made it to the NIT Quarterfinals last season.

John Shurna, a 6'9" forward, is a 2011-12 Sporting News Preseason Second-Team All-America selection. He is a serious deep-threat, hitting over 43 percent of his shots from beyond the arc in 2010-11.

Drew Crawford is another legitimate scorer (12 ppg) that Carmody can rely on as the Cats go to battle.

Last year, these two teams played twice with the first game ending up with Ohio State pulling out a one point victory at Northwestern.

The second game was in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. The Wildcats took the Buckeyes to OT before losing by six.

A Northwestern victory over Ohio State this season would be a huge upset, not too different from when the Wildcats beat the Magic Johnson-led Michigan State Spartans in 1979 on their way to the NCAA Championship.

March 4: Michigan State in East Lansing, MI

Speaking of the Michigan State Spartans...The Buckeyes season finale pits OSU vs. MSU in East Lansing.

Tom Izzo's Spartans are looking to bounce back from an uneven 2010-11 season, where they played good enough to make it into the NCAA Tournament but fell far short of most people's expectations.

Michigan State started off the season as one of the top rated teams, and slowly fell into funk as the year unfolded.

Versatile forward Draymond Green (pictured), who played for Team USA in the World University Games this summer, is primed for an outstanding senior season.

Sophomore sharpshooter Luke Appling is one of the top returning three-point shooters in the conference.

McDonald's All-American Branden Dawson, one of the top SFs in the Class of 2011 is ready to step in and contribute from day one.

Because Izzo's teams play tough D, they are in almost every game that they take the court. On top of that, he usually has the Spartans playing their best ball going into the month of March.

If all of those factors come together, this could be a terrific close out game to the Big Ten regular season.