Ask any Buckeye fan what their favorite sport is, and nearly every single one will reply with football, the very sport that put Ohio State athletics on the map.

However, try asking this question in two or three more years, and the response may be dramatically different.

The difference maker?  A tenacious new coach named Thad Matta.

In only his second year coaching the Buckeyes, Matta has already compiled a record of 35-15, a .700 winning percentage. Matta already has the Buckeyes nationally ranked at No. 19 with a record of 15-3, and poised to make their first NCAA appearance since the days of Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd.  Even the Buckeyes’ three losses were close, losing by a combined total of 10 points to No. 21 Indiana, No. 12 Michigan State, and an unranked Iowa team that is tied for first in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are currently tied for fifth place in a very tough and deep Big Ten conference that could send as many as seven teams to the NCAA Tournament in March, but only one game separates the Buckeyes from first place.

While most people may not recognize Matta’s accomplishments as a big deal, being able to win despite the circumstances facing the men’s basketball team speaks volumes for Matta and his coaching staff.

In 2003, the NCAA placed Ohio State’s basketball team on probation after an investigation showed that then head coach Jim O’Brien gave money to a former player. As a result, the Buckeyes had a limited number of scholarships last year and the university handed down a self-imposed penalty preventing the Buckeyes to participate in the NCAA tournament.

The Buckeyes are still waiting to hear from the NCAA on the investigation they recently conducted on the Ohio State basketball team, but most are optimistic the Buckeyes will be cleared of wrongdoing and the Bucks will be able to participate in the tournament this spring.

Along with coaching a scholarship-depleted team to a 15-3 record, Matta was also very busy during the off-season as he put together one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Matta already has verbal commitment from Greg Oden, rivals.com’s number 1 rated player in high school, as well as Oden’s teammate Mike Conley, ranked 26th in the class. Joining the duo are two in-state blue chip prospects that are the No.20 and 21 ranked players, respectively; Daequan Cook from Dayton and David Lighty from Cleveland. Rounding out the class is junior-college transfer Othello Hunter from Tampa, FL.

Many people are calling this recruiting class the “Thad Five,” comparing it to the likes of Michigan’s famous “Fab Five” freshman class in the 90’s of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson.

With this incoming class of freshman it is easy to see why Ohio State is excited about its basketball team once again. Now people are not just counting down the days to the start of the new football season after the bowl game, but instead they are scrambling to get tickets to fill OSU basketball’s Value City Arena.