I have never necessarily agreed with the philosophy that come NCAA tournament time, fans are obligated to root for teams in their conference. Still, there was something cool about seeing Baylor compete with a major program like Duke on Sunday.

What was cool, though, was not that a team from the Big 12 could compete with the ACC’s top squad, but that a basketball program that was in shambles just seven years ago was a few baskets away from the Final Four.

Seven years ago, Baylor basketball was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy went missing in June of 2003, and before his body was found, teammate Carlton Dotson was arrested for Dennehy’s murder.

On top of that, the program was investigated for various NCAA violations, head coach Dave Bliss was asked to step down and the last thing people associated with Baylor basketball was basketball.

Baylor’s situation set a new bar for what it means to have a struggling basketball program. The Bears’ turnaround, though, should give every college team hope. Even OU.

Things are not good in Norman right now. The actual season was embarrassing. Allegations of players accepting money have risen. And the team has already lost two underclassmen for next season, and many expect sophomore guard Willie Warren to announce his departure from Norman soon.

Like I said, things are not good, and I think fans and media may not even know the full story. The fact that sophomore guard Ray Willis decided to transfer from OU is not necessarily surprising. Willis has not seen many minutes in his two seasons as a Sooner and, whether it is a smart decision or not, must think he could see the floor more frequently somewhere else.

The decision that makes me wonder about the state of OU basketball, though, is that of freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin. Easily the Sooners’ best player last season, Mason-Griffin announced his decision to try and turn professional last week. The problem? Mason-Griffin is listed at 5-11 (having stood next to him, that is certainly a questionable number) and the number of NBA players under 6 feet is extremely limited.

Most people, at least at this early stage of the off-season, think if Mason-Griffin is playing pro ball next season, it will not be in the United States.

So it’s a curious a decision. There are plenty of reasons why Mason-Griffin might leave – he’s getting bad advice, his family could really use the money, he’s completely oblivious as to how hard it is to play in the NBA at his size – but it is natural to feel like there are some other reasons for Mason-Griffin’s departure that have not yet surfaced.

At the very least, this OU basketball team did not gel last year. For some reason, these players never found a way to work together, and as the Final Four was determined Sunday, the Sooners could do nothing but watch. Likely on separate televisions.

But there is hope. As awful as this past season was, the OU basketball program is not close to where Baylor was seven years ago. These Sooner basketball players may not like one another, but they’re not killing each other.

And maybe these early departures are a good thing. Personally, I think the less next year’s team looks like last year’s, the better. The Sooners may lose some talent, but what they really need is a fresh start.

Rebuilding can be a complicated process, but OU has been through worse in recent years (see: Kelvin Sampson). If the Sooners are looking for an example of how to bounce back, they could start by looking at the team from Waco.

Steven Jones is a language arts education senior.