BUFFALO, N.Y. - Last year at this time, WVU's basketball team was all the buzz nationally.
The Mountaineers, like this season, finished second in the Big 12, both in the regular season and tournament.
Yet the talking heads kept pointing to the Mountaineers as a threat in the NCAA tournament. It actually was against the grain NOT to predict WVU to go deep in its bracket.
This season, though, the buzz is missing. Maybe it's because the Mountaineers were stung in the first round last year by Stephen F. Austin. Maybe it's because West Virginia hasn't been winning convincingly down the stretch.
But take your Google for a spin and you'll see. Almost every national writer has WVU defeating Bucknell on Thursday and then bowing out against potential round-of-32 opponent Notre Dame.
Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News has them doing so. Ditto CBS Sports personalities Jerry Palm, Chip Patterson and Matt Norlander. At Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Eisenberg and three of his colleagues have the Mountaineers one (win) and done. NBC Sports' consensus bracket projects the same. SportsEdge.com is no different.
About the only personality of note I found having faith in West Virginia is CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, who had the Mountaineers going to the Elite Eight before losing to Arizona.
All of which suits WVU's players just fine.
"I like being an underdog," said Mountaineer guard Teyvon Myers. "I mean, I love being an overdog too because I like being on TV all the time and having people talking about us. But I really love being the underdog."
(No, by the way, I didn't correct Myers on "overdog." In my mind I kept hearing Boon whispering to Otter in "Animal House" to "forget it; he's rolling.")
"People look at that loss we took last year [against SFA]," Myers continued. "They see we just lost in the [Big 12] championship and then they beat us down. But I feel like the guys are ready. We took the opportunity to get better every day in practice. I feel everyone is locked in. I feel that's going to carry us to where we need to go - into the second round."
Was the lesson learned from that SFA loss?
"More than a lesson; it was painful," Myers said. "Most of us don't want to feel that pain anymore. We understand we have a team that can do something special. That's what we're trying to do. Seniors like me, Tarik [Phillip], Nate [Adrian] and Brandon [Watkins] are trying to do something special before we leave. We had an opportunity to win the Big 12 tournament championship and it didn't go well for us. We had an opportunity to win the Big 12 regular season championship and that didn't go well for us. We're trying to make the best of this tournament now."
Phillip smiled when asked about the nation's lack of confidence in his team.
"I kind of like it this way better," Phillip said. "We'll give them something to talk about afterward. They might not be saying much now, but I like it like that."
It's a tried and true West Virginia attitude.
"To be honest, I like being the underdog," said Watkins. "I like when people have us losing because it gives us that fire. In the past, we've played well when everybody is against us. It's probably a good thing. When we have that chip [on the shoulder] we do well."
Vegas, of course, has WVU as a big favorite against Bucknell. Understand, however, the Bison didn't sneak in. It won both the Patriot League regular season and tournament. It has a solid frontcourt of 6-7 junior Zach Thomas and 6-9 center Nana Foulland. And during shootaround, one couldn't help but notice the pair. First, Foulland is flat cut physically. Second, while the rest of the Bison goofed around with a dunk contest, the pair stayed at the other end taking the practice time seriously.
"He's chiseled," Watkins said of Foulland. "We have to work out butts off. We have me, [Sagaba Konate] and Elijah [Macon] coming in. Hopefully, we get the best of him."
Indeed, don't be surprised if WVU counters Foulland with Foul Land.
"We need to dictate the tempo of the game - and keep the ball outside of the post," Watkins said. "We need to make it hard for Nana [Foulland] to get the ball. We also need to make sure the guards don't get open shots - because they can shoot the ball. They really can shoot. So tempo and ball pressure."
"Just get out and get after people," Phillip added. "Once we do that, it's hard to beat us. Just be ourselves."
Apparently, with a lesson learned and that trademark West Virginia chip firmly in place.