There's a lot of changes in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, but none of them occur in the top five, as Kentucky (still getting all 31 of the first-place votes), Syracuse, Missouri, Duke and Kansas occupy No. 1-5, respectively. The only other team within the top ten to hold position is North Carolina at No. 7, sitting with a 23-4 record on the season. Michigan State moves up to No. 6, while Georgetown climbs to No. 8. No. 10 Marquette was No. 13 just a week ago. No. 10 Baylor fell down to No. 14, and No. 11 UNLV fell far, far down to No. 20. Big changes.
Seeing as how Michigan State moved from No. 8 to No. 6, the Ohio State Buckeyes had nowhere to go but down, dropping games to Michigan (now at No. 13) and MSU. They've fallen down to No. 9, a drop of three spots. A week ago, they dropped three spots from No. 3. They're not having a good run of late.
Next, the Buckeyes will have a shot at the win column as they take on Illinois. On the remaining schedule they've got two ranked teams in Wisconsin and a rematch against MSU. A game against Northwestern is wedged between those two on Feb. 29.
For more on the Ohio State Buckeyes, check out Along The Olentangy. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Basketball hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Basketball.