The Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet Monday in college basketball action from Value City Arena. Oakland is fresh off a disappointing 13-19 overall record last year and a fifth-place finish in the Horizon League. As for Ohio State, they managed to go just 16-19 in 2022-23, landing one spot out of the basement in a tough Big Ten. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies

The Grizzlies failed to improve or maintain their magic from the 2021-22 campaign last year, ultimately finishing 13-19 overall with a 11-9 run in Horizon League play. Oakland finished in fifth place among the standings, losing to Northern Kentucky in the first game of the Horizon League Tournament. 

Longtime head coach Greg Kampe is back on the sidelines for Oakland this season (his 40th). He’ll retain three starters on what could be the Grizzlies’ deepest team in years. Second Team All-Horizon League selection Trey Townsend (16.5 PPG) is back in the fold and will take on a lot more responsibility with Jalen Moore gone. Junior forward Chris Conway (4.5 PPG) rejoins him in the frontcourt. 

Ohio State Buckeyes 

Over on the Buckeyes’ side, they took a step back last year as well. Ohio State posted a 16-19 overall record with a 5-15 run in Big Ten play, which resulted in a second-to-last-place finish in the standings (ahead of only Minnesota at 2-17). The good news is that the Buckeyes showed some life in the conference tourney, beating Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State before a Semifinals loss to Purdue 80-66. 

Chris Holtmann is back with Ohio State this year and hoping to improve upon the team’s fortunes. He’ll have two returning starters and three incoming freshmen ranked in the top 50: Taison Chatman, Devin Royal and Scotty Middleton. They’ll join a pair of incoming fifth-year seniors in Jamison Battle (12.4 PPG) and Dale Bonner (4.7 PPG). There’s plenty of upside here if the new faces can contribute early. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll lean toward Ohio State in this one, but a lot of different things could happen. With all the new young talent on the team, the Buckeyes could get a big jolt of energy and a huge jump in the standings if things go well. If not, it’ll be another lost season and another complete rebuild in the spring. That said, Ohio State has more than enough veteran talent to guide the four freshmen and five sophomores if they can improve on defense. Last year the Buckeyes gave up 109.8 points per 100 possessions, which was the team’s worst since the Thad Matta era. 

As for Oakland, things should be looking up for them as well. The Grizzlies have a deep team on paper and shouldn’t suffer any major production drop-offs in the later minutes this season. That said, I don’t think they’ll keep pace here if the Buckeyes start hot.