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.

1979–80 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 10
Record21–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Home arenaSt. John Arena
Seasons
1979–80 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Indiana 13 5   .722 21 8   .724
No. 10 Ohio State 12 6   .667 21 8   .724
No. 20 Purdue 11 7   .611 23 10   .697
Iowa 10 8   .556 23 10   .697
Minnesota 10 8   .556 21 11   .656
Illinois 8 10   .444 22 13   .629
Michigan 8 10   .444 17 13   .567
Wisconsin 7 11   .389 15 14   .517
Michigan State 6 12   .333 12 15   .444
Northwestern 5 13   .278 10 17   .370
Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Roster

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1979–80 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C 13 Granville Waiters 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Columbus, Ohio
G 14 Kelvin Ransey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Toledo, Ohio
C 32 Herb Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Columbus, Ohio
F 33 Clark Kellogg 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Cleveland, Ohio
F Jim Smith 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Cleveland, Ohio
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

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Schedule/results

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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[2]  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[3]  21–7
ASU Activity Center 
Tempe, Arizona
Mar 13, 1980*
(4W) No. 10 vs. (8W) UCLA
West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
L 68–72[4]  21–8
McKale Center 
Tucson, Arizona
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
W=West.

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Rankings

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[6]

References

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  1. ^ "1979-80 Ohio State Buckeyes Roster and Stats". Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin badgers Bucks". The Daily Sentinel. January 27, 1980. p. 26. Retrieved February 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Ohio State Jolts Arizona State". The New York Times. March 10, 1980. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  4. ^ "UCLA, Clemson West Finalists". The Washington Post. March 14, 1980. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Ohio State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Ohio State University Athletics. p. 154. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  6. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 866–867. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.