Ohio State finalizes non-conference slate with addition of neutral-site game against Auburn
COLUMBUS — The Ohio State 2024-25 non-conference schedule is now complete. The Buckeyes’ final addition to a marquee matchup-filled slate is a Dec. 14 showdown with Auburn in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, the home of the Atlanta Hawks and where Ohio State defeated UCLA in last year’s edition of the CBS Sports Classic.
Another homecoming is in store for star point guard, and returning captain, Bruce Thornton, who hails from Fairburn, Georgia, about a half hour drive from Atlanta.
The Buckeyes now have three neutral-site games on tap for the 2024-25 regular season, and all of them are against SEC opponents. First they’ll take on Texas in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series. Then they’ll face Auburn in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for the annual Holiday Hoopsgiving event. Finally, Ohio State will play Kentucky in New York City’s Madison Square Garden for this year’s CBS Sports Classic.
As for Auburn, the Tigers are gearing up for a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule, which also includes neutral-site games against Houston and Purdue, an ACC/SEC challenge meeting with Duke and a trip to the Maui Invitational.
Head coach Bruce Pearl’s team is coming off a one-and-done appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers brought back two of their top-three scorers from last season, forward Johni Broome and guard Chad Baker-Mazara. Plus, they bolstered their backcourt with the transfer additions of JP Pegues (Furman) and Miles Kelly (Georgia Tech), both of whom averaged double-digit scoring figures last season.
Here’s the lineup of non-conference games Ohio State will play this fall and winter:
Nov. 4 vs. Texas (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Nov. 11 vs. Youngstown State
Nov. 15 at Texas A&M
Nov. 19 vs. Evansville
Nov. 22 vs. Campbell
Nov. 25 vs. Green Bay
Nov. 29 vs. Pittsburgh
Dec. 14 vs. Auburn (State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia)
Dec. 17 vs. Valparaiso
Dec. 21 vs. Kentucky (Madison Square Garden, New York, New York)
Dec. 29 vs. Indiana State
OUTLOOK
+ Ohio State will kick off the 2024-25 season against Texas in Las Vegas for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series. The game will take place on Nov. 4 in T-Mobile Arena, the home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. It will be part of College Basketball’s Opening Night 2024, an event that will also feature a highly-anticipated women’s basketball showdown between defending national champion South Carolina and Michigan that same night in Vegas.
+ Ohio State will complete its home-and-home series with Texas A&M. Buzz Williams’ Aggies squad took down Ohio State, 73-66, on Nov. 10 last year in the Schottenstein Center. That matchup took place during the first week of the Buckeyes’ season and drew a crowd of 12,704. Texas A&M’s backcourt pairing of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford combined for 42 points, and the then-No. 15 Aggies overpowered Ohio State on the glass with a 45-35 rebounding advantage. Williams’ team, which finished the season No. 1 in KenPom offensive rebounding percentage, piled up 16 offensive boards, leading to 19 second-chance points.
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+ On Nov. 25, the Buckeyes will face Green Bay, which is now led by radio personality and former Oklahoma State point guard Doug Gottlieb. Notably, Gottlieb will continue hosting his national radio show while coaching Green Bay, and the five-year contract he signed includes a conflict management plan in attempt to regulate that balance, as reported by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
+ The ACC/Big Ten Challenge went extinct after the 2022-23 season. But Ohio State has scheduled an early-season matchup with an ACC foe on its own. The Buckeyes will host Pitt on Nov. 29. The Panthers just extended head coach Jeff Capel after narrowly missing out on the NCAA Tournament last season. They did, however, reach The Dance the year before and won games in the First Four and in the Round of 64 after Capel earned ACC Coach of the Year honors. Pitt returns four of its top-six scorers from last season, including guards Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe.
+ In his first season as head coach, Jake Diebler will get to face the program that helped make him into the person he is today. Diebler and the Buckeyes will host Valparaiso on Dec. 17. Diebler played for Valpo from 2005-09. Then he jumpstarted his coaching career there, first serving as a student assistant for Homer Drew — who was still the head coach at the time — and then holding an assistant coach position from 2011-13. Valpo is now led by first-year head coach Roger Powell Jr.
+ Ohio State will take on Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic, which is returning to Madison Square Garden, where the four-team annual event was held during the 2022-23 season as well. The Buckeyes are 5-4 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic. Like Ohio State, Kentucky also has a new head coach. John Calipari left Kentucky to take the Arkansas job, and the Wildcats hired former BYU head coach Mark Pope to replace him.
