A friend of mine recently came up to me and said, “Bru, you don’t have faith in your teams. You should change that.”

It’s not that I don’t have faith, friend that I won’t mention, but I don’t want to get so high on my teams and then be devastated if they don’t come through for me.

Let’s just say I’m a sports pessimist. Pessimism is defined as “the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, or problems.” So, I’m Matt Brubaker, and I’m a sports pessimist. First step is admitting, right?

I find pessimism to actually be great. If you think your team is going to lose and don’t feel confident in their abilities, and then they lose, I’m right. If they win, I feel great because they exceeded my expectations. Like they say in the sports world, “It’s a win-win.”

The team that I’m still pessimistic about is the Ohio State basketball team, who is now 22-0 on the year and the only undefeated team remaining in Division I college basketball. What I’m pessimistic about is their recent tournament history and their lack of success after completing impressive seasons like the 2007 and 2010 seasons.

Here is my pessimism turned positive though, as I look at Ohio State, by the numbers.

0 – Buckeye losses in 2010-2011. The last time Ohio State had zero losses this late in the year was 1961-1962.

1 – The Buckeyes ranking now for three straight weeks. The last time Ohio State was ranked number one was the week of March 5, 2007.

2 – Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger is second in the Big Ten in rebounding.

3 – Jon Diebler’s favorite number, as he’s lived behind the three point line, making 323 in his career.

4 – Ohio State’s 22-0 record is the fourth best start in school history.

5 – Players that average nine or more points on the season (Sullinger, William Buford, David Lighty, Diebler, and Deshaun Thomas)

6 – Players drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft that have played with Lighty (Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullens, and Evan Turner)

7 – Thad Matta’s in his seventh season at Ohio State. His record as the Buckeye head coach is 178-54.

8 – Lighty’s all-time rank at Ohio State with 110 career starts.

9 – Freshman of the Week awards won by Sullinger this season (also has nine double-doubles.)

10 – Number of losses Ohio State has had under Matta in seven seasons at home. (I know that sounds negative, so here’s a positive: 114 wins!)

11 – Seasons of 20 or more wins for Matta in his career. He’s never had less than 20 in a season.

11.2 – Buckeye freshman have won all 11 Freshman of the Week awards in the Big Ten (Sullinger 9, Thomas and Aaron Kraft 1.)

12 – Wins against Michigan Matta owns in his career. Buckeyes are looking for their 13th Thursday.

13 – Wins Ohio State has this season when out-rebounding their opponent.

14 – Buckeye wins this season at Value City Arena (1 win at St. John’s Arena.)

15 – Straight wins against Big Ten opponents. Matta also has 15 NCAA Tournament wins as OSU’s coach.

Give me credit. I came up with all these numbers, all positive ones by the way, without uttering one negative comment, one worry about the team, and without any curse words directed toward the Buckeyes. Now let’s see if my optimism helps my basketball team. If come March, they falter again, I’m going back to pessimism, and no one can stop me.