# 1990–91 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 1990–91 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1990–91 NCAA men's college basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Randy Ayers and played their home games at St. John Arena. After starting the season on a 17-game win streak and winning 25 of their first 26 games, the Buckeyes finished with an overall record of 27–4, and earned their first Big Ten championship in 20 years with a 15–3 conference record.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 25, 1990* | No. 10 | Bethune-Cookman | W 111–72 | 1–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Nov 28, 1990* | No. 11 | Delaware State | W 116–67 | 2–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Dec 1, 1990* | No. 11 | Youngstown State | W 112–67 | 3–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Dec 8, 1990* | No. 9 | Chicago State | W 112–54 | 4–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Dec 12, 1990* | No. 8 | Wright State | W 90–60 | 5–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Dec 15, 1990* | No. 8 | at American | W 109–73 | 6–0 | Bender Arena Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 17, 1990* | No. 7 | Tennessee State | W 103–66 | 7–0 | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Dec 22, 1990* | No. 7 | vs. No. 12 Georgetown Duel in the Desert | W 71–60 | 8–0 | Thomas & Mack Center (18,500) Paradise, Nevada |
| Dec 27, 1990* | No. 6 | vs. Mississippi State Palm Beach Classic | W 82–80 | 9–0 | West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Dec 28, 1990* | No. 6 | vs. Miami (OH) Palm Beach Classic | W 85–67 | 10–0 | West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Jan 3, 1991 | No. 6 | No. 22 Iowa | W 63–59 | 11–0 (1–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Jan 5, 1991 | No. 6 | at Michigan | W 67–57 | 12–0 (2–0) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 10, 1991 | No. 4 | at Northwestern | W 102–62 | 13–0 (3–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Jan 12, 1991 | No. 4 | Wisconsin | W 92–60 | 14–0 (4–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Jan 19, 1991 | No. 4 | Illinois | W 89–55 | 15–0 (5–0) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Jan 21, 1991 | No. 4 | at No. 3 Indiana | W 93–85 | 16–0 (6–0) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Jan 24, 1991 | No. 4 | at Minnesota | W 80–70 | 17–0 (7–0) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 31, 1991 | No. 4 | at Michigan State | L 61–75 | 17–1 (7–1) | Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 3, 1991 | No. 3 | Purdue | W 66–59 | 18–1 (8–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 9, 1991 | No. 3 | Northwestern | W 96–64 | 19–1 (9–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 11, 1991 | No. 2 | Michigan | W 81–65 | 20–1 (10–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 14, 1991 | No. 2 | at Wisconsin | W 73–71 | 21–1 (11–1) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| Feb 17, 1991 | No. 2 | No. 4 Indiana | W 97–95 | 22–1 (12–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, OH |
| Feb 20, 1991 | No. 2 | at Illinois | W 73–64 | 23–1 (13–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Feb 23, 1991 | No. 2 | Minnesota | W 63–62 | 24–1 (14–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Mar 3, 1991 | No. 2 | Michigan State | W 65–64 | 25–1 (15–1) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Mar 6, 1991 | No. 2 | at Purdue | L 67–72 | 25–2 (15–2) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Mar 10, 1991 | No. 2 | at Iowa | L 69–80 | 25–3 (15–3) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1991* | (1 MW) No. 5 | vs. (16 MW) Towson State First round | W 97–86 | 26–3 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Mar 17, 1991* | (1 MW) No. 5 | vs. (8 MW) Georgia Tech Second round | W 65–61 | 27–3 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Mar 22, 1991* | (1 MW) No. 5 | vs. (4 MW) No. 20 St. John's Midwest Regional semifinal | L 74–91 | 27–4 | Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Coaches | 11 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |