While this season is one of the most highly anticipated seasons for Dayton men's basketball, the team's mentality has not changed.

Players remain calm and focused about what they need to accomplish this season. They are treating this year like any other.

"We have to work hard and keep working hard," senior Rob Lowery said. "We can't take one team for granted, not one. Any team is capable of beating another team on any given night, so we have to get it done each game."

Lowery is not alone with that mindset. All the players have emphasized the importance of not overlooking any opponent, especially in a conference like the Atlantic 10 where teams have a knack for surprising the top teams in the conference.

"We need to have a championship mentality as a unit and have to be clicking and on the same page at all times," redshirt freshman Josh Benson said. "As long as we do that and stay focused on what we need to do as a team, we'll be alright."

Head coach Brian Gregory has obviously gotten through to the Flyers. This season is about staying focused and staying hungry, themes which the team has discussed at length.

Gregory spent the off season drilling another theme home to his team, one that is important to both on and off court success.

"Coach Gregory's big theme this off season was ownership," Benson said. "We are in control of what we do and we have to build on that and do whatever it takes to win games."

With a great buzz spreading for this team, a tournament in Puerto Rico and a matchup with conference foe Fordham at famed Madison Square Garden, distractions are everywhere for the Flyers. Players were asked about playing in Puerto Rico and MSG, and while they admitted it will be exciting, they quickly countered by expressing the importance of every game on the schedule.

"Playing in one of the most historic gyms will give any player chills going in there, but again, it's a long way away until we play there so we need to take advantage of the opportunities that are immediately in front of us," senior Mickey Perry said.

UD enters the season as the favorite in the Atlantic 10, an unfamiliar feeling. In a conference where rival Xavier has reigned supreme as of late, as well as Temple, this is a new situation for everyone, including the seven seniors.

"It's an opportunity for us to be on the other end of the spectrum," Perry said. "A lot of times we were hunting other people and I guess now we're the so-called hunted, but again it just comes back to staying hungry and understanding that we still have to play basketball, have fun and take advantage of the opportunities in front of us."

For any team that has a season with lofty expectations, it can be easy for players to get uptight and struggle to relax. Relaxing doesn't seem to be a problem with this group, however. Whether it's Christ Wright singing, "I'll Be There" a cappella or Rob Lowery doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation by bellowing out "The Way You Make Me Feel," this Flyers team can stay loose.

"Singing goes on in the locker room between me, Chris, Rob and some other people and we'll get into some rock 'n roll and start singing," Benson said. "I don't really think there's a best, we're all evenly matched ... or evenly bad.