Now that the 2023-24 campaign is in the books, curious who fans would like to see on the 2024-25 Ohio State basketball schedule.
My wish list starts with a home and home with an elite program. I don't think any of us would ever be upset to see a home and home with any of UK, UNC, Duke, or Kansas.
My dream will always be a home and home with Kentucky (something that hasn't happened since 1981/1982). With UCLA joining the conference, I'd anticipate the CBS Classic will either cease or make an adjustment. Always a long shot, but that opens the door for OSU and UK to have a home and home in the future, so I'll table those hopes for another year. On the plus side, it will be exciting when the Bruins visit Columbus whether next year or the following.
Arizona - the AZ Wildcats and the Buckeyes have never had a home and home series and have only met 3 times.
Gonzaga - similarly to Arizona, the Zags and Bucks have only met 3 times, twice in the dance and once in Portland.
Beyond a home and home with an elite program I'd also like to see a home and home matchup with any of: Xavier, Cincinnati, Dayton, West Virginia, L'ville, or Butler. I caught the Bucks at Cincy and at X, but missed the opportunities during the Matta era to see them play at Hinkle and at WVU. L'ville would be intriguing with the Cards hiring Pat Kelsey.
The random ones: I'd always love to see a road game at any of Syracuse, St. John's (Madison Square Garden), Penn (the Palestra), and New Mexico (The Pit) at some point.
And lastly, because every schedule has mid majors as an essential ingredient, I hope that ours remains MAC-heavy with a couple MAC schools coming to Columbus. (We played three last year). In-state, we're specifically due to see Ohio U and Toledo again soon as those last meetings were 2013-14 and 1999-00, respectively. Outside of the Ohio MAC schools, we've had recent matchups with CMU and WMU, and had EMU in during 2009-10 (ET back injury game) but haven't played Ball State in decades. The recent matchup with Cornell also has me interested in brining in an Ivy League school for a schedule filler.
