The Buckeyes are riding a five-game winning streak with each victory coming by double digits, most recently taking the Emerald Coast Classic title before rolling through Central Michigan by 27 points.
Their opponent to open league play is Minnesota, the only squad with a worse conference record than Ohio State last year at 2-17. One of those two wins came in Value City Arena against the Buckeyes, however.
The Golden Gophers returned many of their key contributors from last season and also got a couple of players back from season-ending injuries last year in forwards Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen.