# 1979–80 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by 4th-year head coach Eldon Miller, the Buckeyes played their home games at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
With a loaded roster that had five future NBA players, Ohio State spent all but one week of the season ranked in the AP top ten. The Buckeyes went into the regular season finale tied with Indiana in the conference standings, but fell to the Hoosiers on the road in overtime. Likely under-seeded, the team received a bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 4 seed in the West region. After handling No. 5 seed Arizona State in the round of 32, the Buckeyes were upset in the Sweet Sixteen by No. 8 seed and eventual Final Four participant UCLA, 72–68.
Ohio State finished with a record of 21–8 (12–6 Big Ten). Senior guard Kelvin Ransey was named a Consensus second-team All-American and was selected as the No. 4 pick in the 1980 NBA draft.

## Schedule/results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1979* | No. 4 | Ohio | W 78–51 | 1–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Dec 8, 1979* | No. 3 | at Stetson | W 69–50 | 2–0 | Edmunds Center DeLand, Florida |
| Dec 10, 1979* | No. 3 | at West Virginia | W 72–55 | 3–0 | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| Dec 13, 1979* | No. 3 | Cal Poly Pomona | W 87–46 | 4–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Dec 15, 1979* | No. 3 | at Holy Cross | W 79–63 | 5–0 | Hart Center Worcester, Massachusetts |
| Dec 19, 1979* | No. 2 | at No. 11 Louisville | L 65–75 | 5–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 22, 1979* | No. 2 | Tennessee | W 91–65 | 6–1 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Dec 29, 1979* | No. 7 | Northwestern State | W 71–46 | 7–1 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Big Ten Regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1980 | No. 5 | No. 11 Indiana | W 59–58 | 8–1 (1–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 5, 1980 | No. 5 | No. 8 Purdue | W 67–58 | 9–1 (2–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 10, 1980 | No. 3 | at No. 12 Iowa | W 77–71 | 10–1 (3–0) | Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 12, 1980 | No. 3 | at Northwestern | W 75–63 | 11–1 (4–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Jan 17, 1980 | No. 2 | Minnesota | W 75–70 | 12–1 (5–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 19, 1980 | No. 2 | at Michigan | L 74–75 | 12–2 (5–1) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 24, 1980 | No. 4 | at Illinois | W 79–76 | 13–2 (6–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Jan 26, 1980 | No. 4 | Wisconsin | L 71–72 | 13–3 (6–2) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 27, 1980* | No. 4 | No. 17 Virginia | W 70–65 | 14–3 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 31, 1980 | No. 6 | Michigan State | L 54–74 | 14–4 (6–3) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 2, 1980 | No. 6 | at Wisconsin | L 67–70 | 14–5 (6–4) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| Feb 7, 1980 | | Michigan | W 66–63 | 15–5 (7–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 9, 1980 | | Michigan State | W 71–59 | 16–5 (8–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 14, 1980 | No. 9 | at Minnesota | L 70–74 | 16–6 (8–5) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Feb 16, 1980 | No. 9 | Illinois | W 71–57 | 17–6 (9–5) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 21, 1980 | No. 11 | Northwestern | W 68–59 | 18–6 (10–5) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 23, 1980 | No. 11 | Iowa | W 70–69 | 19–6 (11–5) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 28, 1980 | No. 9 | at No. 18 Purdue | W 64–60 | 20–6 (12–5) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Mar 2, 1980 | No. 9 | at No. 13 Indiana | L 73–76 $^{OT}$ | 20–7 (12–6) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 1980* | (4W) No. 10 | vs. (5W) No. 18 Arizona State Second Round | W 89–75 | 21–7 | ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Mar 13, 1980* | (4W) No. 10 | vs. (8W) UCLA West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 68–72 | 21–8 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||