"While none of the predictions and other speculation that happen during the event have any influence on the outcome of the season, nor will it impact the way we approach the season, it does allow us to facilitate multiple media sources in an efficient and timely fashion," Mendenhall said.

Whittingham agrees.

"I think that's just a fun way to get the fans going for the season — get them hungry, excited and all that. But we don't put much stock in any of that," he said. "Each season is it's own entity, it's own set of circumstances. You've just got to wait and see how things unfold.

"I think we've got a chance to be a pretty good team. We've got some good players coming back, but so many things have to happen," Whittingham continued. "You have to stay healthy. You have to catch some breaks early. There's a lot of things that have to happen for you to have one of those special type of seasons."

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Contributing: Jeff Call

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com