We really needed a bounce back from last season to keep the forward momentum going, and a team ranked as borderline top 25 coming into the season is getting a 3 or 4 seed, with two All Big Ten First Team players, a 2nd place finish in conference, and a possible BTT title.
I think another disappointing year could have caused the NIL money to dry up a bit, especially after the money that went to guys like Mayer and Clark with little return.
If we get upset in the first round then all of this will be largely negated. But as we close the book on the regular season, its hard not to be satisfied with what we accomplished. Only season better than this since 2005 was the bizarre Covid year that never felt totally real or normal, this was about as good as we’ve had in two decades.