Cavalier Corner

team coached by Brian O'Connor, Kevin McMul- lan and Karl Kuhn," Fitt admitted. "These guys have a history of getting the most out of their talent, and I don't think anybody will be shocked if this group of Cavs overachieves [like last year's team did]." O'Connor is convinced that the process, the foundation, the essence he and his staff have put in place will always keep his clubs in a position to compete for another CWS championship, and last year may have been all the evidence anyone needed. "Consistency works," O'Connor affirmed. "It works with all the successful businesses. Do you adapt at times? Sure you do. I mean, if you don't, if you don't learn from your mistakes, you never gain wisdom. It's pretty simple. So you have to adapt and tweak, here and there, but not your foundation, not your core for what your program stands for and how you're going to play the game. "In [UVA men's basketball head coach Tony Bennett's] case, you have an identity. And we have an identity as a baseball program and we don't waiver from that. That gets you through tough times. I'm a huge believer in it, and if you recruit players that believe in it, if people around you, the staff, believe in it, it'll work out." O'Connor is not concerned with expectations of the media — his Hoos set their own expecta- tions and they don't change. He's not concerned about who does or doesn't think they can repeat, he cares about the core of the program. "It doesn't bother me that people haven't talked about whether this team can repeat," O'Connor said. "Although I respect the people that [make predictions], and the profession and everything, the polls don't really matter to me." But he did add this final thought. "I'll say this, if we get ourselves into the NCAA Tournament this year, then I'm sure people will talk about whether or not this team will repeat or not." And if that happens, bet against them at your own risk. ◆

• Cover