"They must have seen what I saw: a celebration of Dr. Naismith’s great game, and —with Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Jay Williams in attendance—a celebration of Duke basketball’s rich history. For the students, it went beyond that. It was a celebration of the beautiful sense of hope that blows in with the crisp autumn air at the start of every season. Even though last year’s graduating class never saw a Final Four appearance or a win in Cameron against that pesky team eight miles down the road, there was hope when the Crazies flooded out into the soon-to-be-erected tent city. Every team was still undefeated. It just might be Duke’s year."

Andy wrote this about this very day last year, when that last line, especially, just seemed like a lot of upbeat nonsense. It’s basketball season, guys!