Last year, the Mountain East Conference saw teams beat up on each other every week. Just about every game was a hard-fought contest that would come down to the final quarter.
There were 23 games in total between MEC teams that were decided by one score, and by the end of the season eight of the conference's 11 teams had at least five losses in league play. That's expected to be much of the same in 2017 as teams figure things will get even tougher as conference foes continue getting better.
But while the conference has the type of parity that makes it hard for any team to feel like it has a game wrapped up, there's still one team far and away the favorite in the league - the MEC's representative in back-to-back national semifinals, Shepherd.
The Rams have lost just two conference games in the four seasons that the Mountain East has been in existence, and they are once again the overwhelming favorites to win the league as coach Monte Cater heads into his 31st season leading the program.
"There's always one team at any level of sports that finds ways to dominate their league, and it's Shepherd here and everyone knows that," West Virginia State coach John Pennington said. "Coach Cater developed that program and he did things his way to get it to that point and it just feels like they get better and better.
"That's the goal that we're all trying to achieve at every school in this league. We all want to know how we can be like that."
Cater said he knows the team comes into every year with a target on its back. He watches the other teams in the MEC trying to build teams to possibly dethrone Shepherd from its place atop the league standings. Every year when the new season begins with high expectations, Cater knows that his team understands what it must do. More importantly, the Rams know they can't use things like preseason polls to justify not playing at their best right out of the gate.
"In one way it's nice to have that bull's-eye on your back because you've had to earn it to get to that point, but then you also know you're going to get someone's best every Saturday because they all want to knock you off," Cater said. "You have to be ready all the time because every week is a great contest."
After the last few years, the Rams are still setting their sights on not only winning the MEC again, but continuing their postseason success in the hunt for their first national championship. Shepherd has made three semifinal appearances since 2010, including a trip to the title game in 2015 before falling short against Northwest Missouri State.
Those goals keep Shepherd hungry, giving it an edge as it heads into this season.
"We expect ourselves to contend for a national championship year in and year out," Shepherd quarterback Connor Jessop said. "We really need to go game by game to get there and keep our focus where it needs to be, because there are teams all over this league that will beat you if you don't come out ready to go.
"One year you can go 8-2 in this conference and the next you go 2-8, that's what this league is like. You can't take anyone lightly."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.