Ken McDonald came into his first season as Western’s head coach insisting that the players compete with a chip on their shoulders.

A year later, after a second consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championship and trip to the NCAA tournament, the message has changed.

Now, the Toppers will play with a target on their backs.

“There’s going to be a big difference,” junior forward Steffphon Pettigrew said. “Everybody’s going to throw their best punch at us, and we’ve just got to keep playing as a team and throw our best punch back at them.”

Western’s goal from the start this season is to win the Sun Belt. Each day following practice, McDonald decides if the team’s effort was championship-worthy.

So far, the results have pleased the coach.

“There’s a different mindset going into this season now,” McDonald said. “Last year, it was an attitude that we wanted to gain some respect, and we really went with that. This year will be different. This year will be protect what we feel is ours.”

Western collected 12 of a possible 13 votes in the Sun Belt’s preseason polls to win the conference’s East Division — a ranking compiled by McDonald’s coaching peers. In addition, the Toppers collected a pair of votes in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 25 poll.

According to junior forward Sergio Kerusch, the preseason accolades aren’t blowing the team’s ego out of proportion. Instead, Kerusch said it’s important to find little things to remain driven.

“Last year we were underestimated, and this year we’re overestimated — but that’s just me,” Kerusch said. “You can’t let it get into your head because you’re going to start thinking that we deserve this, and nothing’s going to be given to you. So we’re kind of going in like we’re still at ground zero.”

But if the beginning of last season was ground zero, McDonald said his team is “light-years” ahead of that heading into this one.

The Toppers opened McDonald’s tenure at Western 1-2, with losses at Houston and Murray State. Once the players adjusted to their new coach, the Toppers rolled off wins against then-No. 3 Louisville and Southeastern Conference member Georgia.

McDonald said he doesn’t expect the same adjustment period to happen this season because his players are entering their opening game with full knowledge of the system.

“You’ve got to realize a year into the job, it’s not a new situation now,” McDonald said. “There’s not getting-to-know-you kind of time, and I’m excited about the possibilities.”

According to McDonald, the only thing the Toppers have left to do is live up to the hype — something he fully expects to happen.

“I brought them in the first practice and said, ‘Guys, who is going to be expected to win this conference? We are. Who should win this conference? We should. Who is it going to be up to? It’s going to be up to us,’” he said.