Now, the expectations are amped. The Owls are No. 22, their highest preseason ranking since 2001, and favored to fourpeat in Atlantic City. All of which means . . .
"It can be whatever," said junior guard Juan Fernandez, who will have the ball in his hands most of the time now that Luis Guzman has graduated. "A good thing or a bad thing, depending how you take it. That's the key. You definitely have to take it slow. You can listen to what people say, but not too seriously. That's the way you have to handle it. If you do that, then you'll get there.
"No one's seen us play yet. We're a different team. I think we can be good, but we have to show it. It felt awful to lose in the first round."
And for many, that's the lasting impression.
"Unfortunately, that's the way it is," Fernandez acknowledged. "We know it wasn't easy, what we accomplished. It doesn't happen every year. If you tell me we have a better team, even then I don't know if we win as many games. But people probably say a team with a worse record had a better year, just because it made a run in the tournament."
The expectations are there for a reason. The Owls have talent, and experience. That doesn't guarantee anything. But it probably means they'll be in a position to once again make something happen when people are paying attention the most.
"There's a lot of motivation," said junior Ramone Moore, who emerged in the second half of last season as a big-time scorer from the wing. "We don't want to keep winning Atlantic 10 Tournaments without going further in the [NCAA] Tournament. That's disappointing. But it's the only fair way to look at it. I think we're going to put a lot of emphasis on trying to get over the hump. But we have a target on our backs. We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves before we get there."
Fair enough. Yet barring something unforeseen, reality suggests the Owls are pretty much playing for seeding.
"We know that's the next step," Allen said. "And we're really looking forward to that. Winning another Atlantic 10 title would be huge. Helping my team win a couple of games in the tournament would also be huge.
"Watching the March Madness games the past couple of years, seeing the excitement on guys' faces after they win a huge game, I want to have that feeling."
Nothing wrong with urgency. Fran Dunphy's job is to make sure they understand it remains a journey.
"There's a responsibility that comes with all this," he said. "I appreciate the respect. But it doesn't ensure any level of success. That's kind of where we are. People are talking nicely about us. We can't hang our hat on any of that.
"We can only control what goes on internally. We've got to be ready to go."
Now, and then. *
