My opinion on the state of the Ohio State Basketball program has changed because of the results in the NCAA Tournament. I am cautiously optimistic. On the plus side are the wins over Iowa and Purdue and the 12-8 record in league play. There were some bumps along the road like the losses at Washington and Pitt but most teams not named Michigan had some bumps along the way. Iowa had losses to Maryland, Minnesota and Penn State.Ben McCollum is now considered by most to be an excellent coach and the last team to beat the Hawkeyes was coached by Jake Diebler. Sparty also lost to Minnesota. The Big 10 is proving to be the best conference in the tournament and going 12-8 in the league is pretty good, especially given the injuries the Buckeyes had to deal with for most of the year.

I am not equating Diebler with McCollum. McCollum is clearly a better coach and has the resume to prove it. I am just saying Diebler has some issues that need to be addressed, but the issues can be solved. He also has some positive traits that can be built on. I can only imagine the vitriol that Diebler would have received if his team had taken the floor with 4 players as Nebraska did or playing the last possession without your best rebounder on the floor as Texas did. These are teams with very good coaches in Hoiberg and Miller. 

I was looking at a glass half empty after the loss to TCU. Now, I am looking at the glass half full because of the run the Big 10 teams have made in the tournament. I am not totally sold on the premise that Diebler is the guy, but I now hope he is.