One of the more important things to remember as a college basketball fan is that a good win is more valuable than a bad loss. As much as you might call Ohio State's loss to Illinois last week a 'bad loss,' they exorcised the demons pretty quickly when they took Indiana out to the proverbial woodshed five days later.

So while the Buckeyes, who once were considered by many to be the best team in the country, have slipped a little bit in some pundits' eyes (as well as in the Big Ten standings), there is still plenty to be encouraged by. It may sound like an apologist's song, but the fact is that they still have a winning record against ranked teams, are still undefeated at home, and are just half a game out of first place in the conference as of Monday afternoon.

It's also worth analyzing the tenor of the Illinois loss. First, it was a road game, and in college basketball, home court advantage is worth a lot. Second, Illini head coach Bruce Weber didn't have a single starter play fewer than 32 minutes.

Third, yes, junior guard Brandon Paul played like a man possessed, more than doubling his previous season-high scoring output with 43 points. But it's worth mentioning that even without him, the home team shot over fifty percent from the field.

Now, we've seen breakout performances by opposing players topple the Buckeyes before. Jordan Taylor did it when he dumped 21 points on OSU in the second half of the game in Madison last year. It was the Buckeyes' first loss. E'Twaun Moore topped that with a career day of his own, scoring half of the Boilers' points with 38.

Critics may argue that after a certain number of those, it says as much about our team as it does about theirs. There's a bit of an argument tucked in there somewhere, but with or without the Illinois loss, there's still nothing that tells me that this team cannot or will not be a one seed in the tournament.

The Indiana win said a lot too. This is still a team with just one senior, yet each and every one of them played the Hoosiers with poise and bravado. Including and especially Lenzelle Smith Jr., who had a little one man show of his own for the opposition on his way to leading Ohio State to a 17-point victory.

So alright, the team is a little Jekyll-and-Hyde-y. Seemingly invincible at home, very beatable on the road. And that is obviously something Thad Matta will have to correct if he wants this team to make it past the first few rounds come March. Fortunately, he's got the time to do it.