Toledo basketball fans appreciate that the Tod Kowalczyk experience comes standard with two features this time of year — defiant optimism and a winking swagger.
You know the drill.
The Rockets lose their best players, Kowalczyk predicts his next team could be even better, and voila, it usually is. The program has been more recession proof than Spam.
This year, however, the coach is trying on a new look for size.
After finally producing a freezing cold take — “In my opinion, we’re better,” Kowalczyk said last offseason before Toledo’s unprecedented run of four straight Mid-American Conference regular-season titles gave way to a fourth-place finish — he and the Rockets are embracing a little humility.