Every single night the Bears took the floor, they felt like they were walking into a high-level game against teams with professional players on the other side.
The Valley was in the midst of its glory days. In 2005, the league tied its record by sending three teams to the NCAA Tournament. Over the previous seven years, it had sent at least two each year.
With the talent back in the league, and the buy-in from coaches to build their schedules into at-large quality slates if they got it done on the court, there was an opportunity to break the record and have its best season to date.