The Ohio State Buckeyes will kick off their 2012-13 season against the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Carrier Classic on the USS Yorktown off the coast of Charleston S.C. at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The No.4 Ohio State is coming off a tremendous campaign in which they won a share of the Big Ten Conference title and reached the NCAA Tournament's Final Four. Marquette advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and finished second in the 16-team Big East Conference.
Both teams have lost arguably two top players from 2011-12 season, with Ohio State losing Jared Sullinger and William Buford, while Marquette's Jae Crowder and Darius Johns-Odom.
However, Ohio State, despite the loss of their key players, remain a balanced team under the direction of coach Thad Matta. He has led the Buckeyes to the Big Ten's best overall (221-65) and conference (98-40) records during his eight years.
Matta owns a record of 12-0 in season openers as a head coach, going 1-0 at Butler, 3-0 at Xavier and 8-0 at Ohio State.
Ohio State owns a narrow 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Marquette, which includes victories in three of the last four matchups. The teams have not met since Nov. 30, 1994, an 82-70 win for the Golden Eagles in Columbus.
Marquette are coming off a year in which they went 27-8 overall and 14-4 in league play to earn a second-place finish.
The loss of several key contributors from that squad will undoubtedly hurt the team this season, but Chris Otule, who sat a majority of last season with injury, is back and will be a huge help defensively in the paint.
Watch Ohio State vs. Marquette live stream, click here.
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