Indiana University's football team started preseason practice Wednesday morning, with last season's surprising success creating expectations unfamiliar to the Hoosiers at this time of year.
Picked in a preseason poll last year to finish 17th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, IU went to the College Football Playoff and had an 11-2 record.
IU lost at Notre Dame in the first round of the playoffs.
"The expectation level, you know, on the outside, some of the noise, is a little different," IU coach Curt Cignetti said Monday. "But I think one of the things we really got to do a great job of is staying focused on the things that affect positive development individually and collectively and kind of block all the other stuff out.
"Like I've said before, the season is a marathon. It's not a sprint. You've got to be able to handle success, failure, overcome obstacles, and you have to do that during the game, too, good game, bad game."
Personally, Cignetti said, his life has changed since last year.
"You know, gas at 5:00 a.m., and two or three selfies at 5:00 a.m." he said. "People waiting for you outside the office when you leave.
"So that's all part of being successful, I understand. I grew up in this business and been in it a long time. But you don't meet expectations and you don't do as well as you would like, things can turn real fast the other way."
IU opens the season at 2:30 p.m. August 30 against Old Dominion at Memorial Stadium.
The Hoosiers are a 23.5-point favorite.
"I addressed Old Dominion in the team meeting, the first team meeting, because these Sun Belt teams are very capable." Cignetti said. "They have a history of knocking off P4, or in the past they were called FBS, teams.
"We beat Virginia (while Cignetti was at James Madison University). Marshall beat Notre Dame. App State beat A&M. Louisiana beat Mississippi State and on and on and on. They're good teams. When you play them early in the year when they're healthy and they're at full strength, they're especially dangerous."