Ohio State basketball to play home-and-home with major hoops power

The Ohio State basketball program had what we hope will go down as a turn-the-corner year, making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. And while the Bukeyes bowed out in heartbreaking fashion in the first round, there's no denying that the team played a ton better down the stretch.

Now, head coach Jake Diebler and the program will be looking to build on that momentum and do even better than last year. The Buckeyes have been active in the transfer portal and have a five-star talent coming in by way of wing Anthony Thompson, so the expectations are that the team does more to get back among the best programs in the Big Ten and the country.

If you are going to be the best, you have to play the best, and according to Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch, the Buckeyes are doing just that with an agreed-upon home-and-home series with the UConn Huskies for this year and next.

Ohio State will travel to Storrs to play at UConn this coming season, with the Huskies making the return trip to Columbus next year. It'll be the seventh meeting between the two programs, with OSU leading 4-2 and winning the last meeting in 2016 by a 64-60 score.

It'll be a great measuring stick for the Ohio State program. The Huskies came within a whisker of winning the national championship last year, losing to Michigan in the title game, but have won two national titles under head coach Dan Hurley and have made another national championship game, all in four years.