The pressure is on for men's hoops, Joe Scott

No bonfire. Eh, how many of us can actually say that they expected one before the football season started?

Is it disappointing? Surely. Will I get over it? Definitely. For one thing, my beloved Boston Red Sox won the World Series, so really, there can be nothing wrong with the world. It almost doesn't bother me that Bush won the election. The key word there is almost.

For the rest of you, there is an entirely different reason to forget about the football team's shortcomings — March Madness.

Basketball season is upon us. Move over Trev Alberts and Lee Corso. Welcome Andy Katz and Dick Vitale. Eh...well...maybe just welcome Andy Katz.

As the basketball team prepares for its season opener tomorrow against Bucknell in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, the expectations for this team continue to rise — and with good reason.

Last year's 13-1 Ivy League championship squad graduated only one player. The man who finished fourth in national Coach of the Year voting last year is now manning (stalking) the sidelines at Jadwin. The team has five seniors to lead a talented crop of five freshmen and six sophomores.

The goal, as always, for any Princeton basketball squad, is to win the Ivy League and make it to the NCAA Tournament. A secondary goal is to beat Penn in the process.

Personally, I would be disappointed if that's all this team accomplished this year.

This is Princeton's best team since the 1997-98 squad that finished a remarkable 27-2.

That team returned two first-team All-Ivy selections in Steve Goodrich and Sydney Johnson. The Tigers have not done that again until . . . this year. Princeton returns senior guard Will Venable and senior center Judson Wallace.

Another coincidence is that Princeton also played in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in 1997. Back then it was only a four-team tournament, not a 16-team tournament as it is now. However, Princeton came out on top and its two wins were not against weak competition; it beat Texas (remember them) and N.C. State to win in 1997.

I'm not saying this team is going to go 27-2, and I'm not claiming they're going to win the Coaches vs. Cancer classic, but I do think this team has the potential to be a Top-25 team this year. They were one of only 46 teams in Division I to receive at least one vote in the preseason coaches' poll.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

I also think this team will pull off at least one upset this season. A big reason for this is the attitude of the head coach.

Former head coach John Thompson III '88 used to talk about non-conference games as preseason games. He forever emphasized that only the Ivy League mattered.

New head coach, Joe Scott '87, has dismissed this way of thinking. He understands how important the non-conference games are. A win over Syracuse, Temple, Duke, or even Rutgers would show potential recruits that they can come to an Ivy League school and still compete against some of the best teams in the country. In addition, it means that more top teams would be willing to travel to Jadwin to play games.

Lets face it, Princeton hasn't played a big non-conference home game since Kansas in 2001.

I think this team can get it done, they can beat a top opponent on the road with a hostile crowd.

Once again it starts with the offense for Princeton. At least for now, Scott is saying all the things that the fans want to hear. How many times last year did you mutter to yourself that Venable should be allowed to push the ball more often? Well, Scott says he will allow Venable more freedom to drive to the basket and post up smaller players. How many times did you pray that Princeton would fast break off a long rebound? Scott says he will allow the team to quicken the pace. He also says that he has reinforced the basics of the Princeton philosophy, mainly that everyone on the floor must be going full speed at all times. That should mean no more half-speed backdoor cuts and no more passing the ball around the perimeter for 34.5 seconds before throwing up a deep three.

He is singling out Venable as the leader on the team, even going so far as to say that the senior from California defines this team's "persona." While I don't quite understand what that involves, it sounds like a good thing.

Scott also placed an emphasis on three-point shooting, a weakness for Princeton last year. The Tigers shot only 33.8 percent last year. Hopefully this year junior point guard Scott Greenman can continue to shoot well. Sophomore forward Luke Owings, sophomore guard Max Schafer, who will come off the bench, and freshmen Matt Sargeant and Kyle Koncz are all expected to help improve the Tigers' shooting.

While the offense is almost always the focus, the defense will probably determine whether Princeton is able to pull off a big upset. The defensive schemes have been completely changed. The team will no longer use the man-to-man defense that Princeton relied on almost exclusively last year. The Carril disciple has instituted a matchup zone defense.

The downfall is that there will be a learning curve. Scott has said that at times he feels like he's got 15 freshmen on the floor. This could spell trouble early in the season.

I don't understand much more about the x's and o's of this team. What I do know is that this team is good on paper. I know that not winning the Ivies would not just be disappointing for this school, it would be embarrassing. I also know that if the team goes 0-28 this year, life would still be good for me, because the Red Sox won the World Series.