Ohio
See which Southwest Ohio basketball teams are ranked in Feb. 5 AP poll
Here are the top 10 teams in the Associated Press Ohio high school basketball poll released Feb. 5, 2024, with first-place votes in parentheses, won-loss record, and total points:
Boys basketball
Division I
1. Garfield Heights (5) 19-0 135
2. Cleveland St. Ignatius (4) 16-3 133
3. Moeller (1) 18-1 132
4. Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (6) 17-1 127
5. Toledo Whitmer 15-1 109
6. Findlay 14-1 95
7. Delaware Hayes 16-1 69
8. Centerville (2) 12-5 46
9. Elder 15-3 41
10. Louisville 16-2 32
Others receiving 12 or more points: Brecksville-Broadview Heights 22. Sycamore 18.
DIVISION II
1. Rocky River Lutheran West (12) 16-2 167
2. Lexington (2) 18-1 146
3. Wyoming (3) 16-2 109
4. Columbus Hartley 14-2 100
5. Cuyahoga Falls CVCA 17-1 86
6. Shelby 15-2 78
7. Kettering Alter (1) 12-5 74
8. Youngstown Ursuline 13-3 55
9. Creston Norwayne 15-1 52
10. Willard 13-3 32
Others receiving 12 or more points: Marietta 29. Dresden Tri-Valley 15.
Division III
1. Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (6) 14-4 143
2. Ottawa-Glandorf (6) 15-2 142
3. Malvern (3) 16-0 124
4. Ashland Crestview 17-0 97
5. New Madison Tri-Village (2) 16-1 85
6. Toledo Emmanuel Christian 14-2 76
7. Castalia Margaretta 15-2 68
8. Camden Preble Shawnee (1) 16-3 44
9. Gahanna Columbus Academy 16-2 40
10. Minford 12-3 35
Others receiving 12 or more points: Archbold 32. Haviland Wayne Trace 20. Seaman N. Adams 13. Youngstown Mooney 13. Bluffton 12.
Division IV
1. Russia (9) 17-1 162
2. Toledo Christian (3) 15-1 127
3. Richmond Heights (6) 9-8 121
4. Lima Central Catholic 14-2 105
5. Woodsfield Monroe Central 15-0 79
6. Warren JFK 13-4 61
7. Berlin Hiland 13-4 57
8. Troy Christian 15-2 52
9. Leesburg Fairfield 17-2 50
10. Delphos St. John’s 16-2 46
(tie) South Webster 15-2 46
Others receiving 12 or more points: Antwerp 23. Bascom Hopewell-Loudon 17. Pandora-Gilboa 17. Mogadore 13.
Girls basketball
Division I
1. Pickerington Central (10) 18-3 153
2. Lewis Center Olentangy (5) 19-1 143
3. Mason (2) 18-2 139
4. Whitehouse Anthony Wayne 17-2 100
5. Marysville 18-3 93
6. Mt. Notre Dame 17-3 83
7. Princeton (1) 17-3 78
8. Uniontown Lake 17-2 62
9. Akron Hoban 15-2 39
10. Rocky River Magnificat 14-5 20
Others receiving 12 or more points: Strongsville 17. Springboro 17. Olmsted Falls 14. Stow-Munroe Falls 12.
Division II
1. Purcell Marian (16) 21-1 175
2. Thornville Sheridan (2) 20-0 117
3. Proctorville Fairland 18-1 115
4. Circleville 18-0 109
5. Copley 19-2 100
6. Akron SVSM 13-5 80
7. Bryan 17-1 64
8. Chillicothe Unioto 18-2 48
9. Mansfield Sr. 17-2 40
10. Beloit W. Branch 17-2 35
Others receiving 12 or more points: Granville 34. Gates Mills Gilmour 15. Bellevue 12. Shaker Heights Laurel 12.
Division III
1. Casstown Miami East (11) 21-0 160
2. Kettering Alter (3) 18-2 149
3. Ottawa-Glandorf (1) 17-2 123
4. Waynesville (1) 21-0 101
5. Portsmouth 17-2 82
6. Castalia Margaretta 17-2 78
7. Columbus Africentric (2) 18-2 68
8. Mechanicsburg 18-1 46
9. Liberty Center 16-2 32
10. Cincinnati Country Day 15-4 31
Others receiving 12 or more points: Beverly Ft. Frye 27. Warrensville Heights 21. LaGrange Keystone 20. Columbiana Crestview 17.
Division IV
1. Ft. Loramie (13) 18-2 174
2. Berlin Hiland (1) 17-2 136
3. Newark Catholic (2) 17-0 135
4. Convoy Crestview 17-2 114
5. Loudonville 16-1 97
6. Gibsonburg 18-1 83
7. New Madison Tri-Village (1) 16-3 54
8. Waterford 15-3 47
9. Defiance Ayersville 16-1 45
10. Xenia Legacy Christian Academy (1) 17-2 30
Others receiving 12 or more points: Minster 29. Richmond Heights 13.
Ohio
Is another team ready to take over the top of the Big Ten from Indiana and Ohio State?
After years of unchecked dominance from the SEC, the Big Ten Conference cemented its place as the best in college football in the 2025-2026 season.
The Indiana Hoosiers completed a remarkable 16-0 season by winning a National Championship, beating Ohio State in the conference championship game, dominating Alabama in the Rose Bowl, then blowing out Oregon in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
That completed a Big Ten trifecta, with the Michigan Wolverines winning a championship in 2024, then the Buckeyes following it up by beating Notre Dame to win the title in 2025. While the SEC might have better depth overall, it’s no question that the top of the Big Ten is as good or better than anyone.
SEC, BIG TEN ARE DOMINATING COLLEGE FOOTBALL THANKS TO MASSIVE ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER CONFERENCES
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti after defeating the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Jan. 19, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
And a new program might be ready to take their turn at the top of the Big Ten: those same Oregon Ducks.
One of the most predictive measures of a team’s strength from year to year is how much production they return from the previous season. It makes sense; the more key players that stay with the team, the better it is for continuity and development.
The Big Ten, oddly enough, has several teams that return much of their production on both sides of the ball. ESPN’s Bill Connelly ran the numbers, finding that teams like Maryland, Nebraska, Minnesota and UCLA all ranked in the top 10 nationally in returning value. Though given how these teams played in 2025, that’s less important. Number 12, though? The Oregon Ducks.
And that carryover production is coming from a team that lost just two games all season, both to Indiana. They handled a very good USC team, 42-27, overcame miserable conditions to outlast the Iowa Hawkeyes on the road, beat the rival Washington Huskies, and most impressively, shut out an elite Texas Tech team 23-0 in the College Football Playoff. And they bring back the players responsible for 66% of their overall production, including star quarterback Dante Moore.
Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore (5) warms up prior to the 2025 Orange Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinal against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
Just behind them at 65%? USC, heading into a pivotal season under Lincoln Riley.
Here’s where Oregon has the advantage, however. They bring that percentage back from a team that was significantly better than USC. It’s no surprise then, that per Connelly’s SP+ projections, Oregon is expected to be the No. 2 team in the country, by efficiency on offense, defense and special teams.
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A BIG 12 WINNER NOT NAMED TEXAS TECH OR BYU, CONSIDER THE HOUSTON COUGARS
What about the other Big Ten schools, though?
USC is the biggest wildcard. They sit at No. 13 in the SP+ projections, thanks to an elite offense and a defense that’s expected to be solid, if unspectacular. But their special teams projections are all the way down at No. 100 in the country, thanks to a series of disastrous mistakes in 2025. Special teams, though, should be the easiest area to improve upon. So if the Trojans can make some adjustments, they could exceed the eight game win expectancy.
Ohio State and Indiana, the two most recent champions, have a bit of a tougher hill to climb, though their roster composition is far from disastrous. The Buckeyes bring back 60% of their production, while Indiana is at 56%, even with several huge departures. That ranks at No. 31 and No. 52, respectively. Important, but not enough to push either team out of the top 5 in the national projections. And Ohio State sits at No. 1, thanks to consistently elite recruiting and key players like Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith returning.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning attends Oregon Pro Day on March 17, 2026, at the Moshofsky Center in Eugene, Oregon. (Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
But if there is an upset brewing at the top of the conference, Oregon might be the place to look. The question then becomes, can they put it all together against a difficult schedule? The Ducks play USC on the road, host Nebraska, travel to Illinois, play Ohio State on the road, host Michigan and have their rivalry game against Washington at Autzen.
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It won’t be easy, but don’t be surprised if at the end of the season, Dan Lanning and the Ducks are right back in the mix.
Ohio
Woman missing for more than 2 weeks found dead in Ohio
A Kentucky woman who had been missing for more than two weeks was found dead in her vehicle in Ohio, authorities said.
The body of Debra Wireman was found in her vehicle on July 3 in Clermont County, Ohio, the Flemingsburg Police Department in Kentucky said on Facebook on Wednesday. Investigators were called to the scene after a report identifying the vehicle as belonging to a missing person, police said. The remains were identified as Wireman’s by the Clermont County Coroner’s Office on July 7, according to law enforcement.
Police in Kentucky said the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio is investigating the woman’s death. No additional information will be released by Flemingsburg police “out of respect for Debra’s family and the integrity of that investigation.”
“While this is not the outcome any of us hoped and prayed for, we are thankful that Debra has been found and that her family can now begin to receive the closure they deserve,” police added on Facebook.
Wireman, according to police, was last seen on June 17 at around 4:30 p.m. in Aberdeen, Ohio, while traveling toward Maysville, Kentucky. She was driving a white 2020 Kia Forte with front-end damage. Police said family and friends were “concerned for her welfare.”
“The overwhelming response from our community, neighboring agencies, the media, and countless individuals across the region demonstrated the very best of people coming together in the hope of bringing someone home safely,” Flemingsburg police said.
Ohio
Jeff’s Donuts opens first Ohio location, open 24 hours
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Central Ohio has a new option for late-night sweets.
Jeff’s Donuts opened its first Ohio location Wednesday morning at 5717 N. Hamilton Road, between Gahanna and New Albany.
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The shop will be open 24 hours.
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