One of the great things about college basketball is that it is a TRUE playoff, not the pathetic shadow of one we get in football. You don't have to approach every game as life and death, and you don't have to be disappointed that you didn't end up ahead after the first 40 minutes of the season. You'll get more chances. It's possible both to understand that there are days you'll be overmatched AND that those days prepare you for better ones down the road, because those ones down the road count much more than these do.

Come on. It sounds all John Wayne to approach every game as a bare-knuckle fight for existence, and to be crushed and broken when you aren't ahead at the end, but that's not only going to be a really hard way to live, it's also been fairly conclusively demonstrated to be stupid and counterproductive. Those teams that appreciate their strengths and improvements, and forgive themselves for not being perfect every play, improve faster than those that run gassers every time they get beat by someone better than they are. I know the movies don't make it look like that. Movies are a really, really poor reflection of good coaching.

I like winning. I like it a lot. It makes me feel happy, and losing does not. But that only means I should probably find more ways to win than just one--and I recommend that to anyone, in any area.