This past Friday, college basketball season officially got underway. As most schools now do, the Georgetown Hoyas celebrated the start of the season with Midnight Madness festivities. Midnight Madness is in essence just one big pep rally, and its main if not sole purpose is to get the fans excited for the upcoming season. But, for Hoya fans, that’s easier said than done.

For many fans, it may be hard to know exactly how to feel about the team this season. Taking a look at the past few years, we can see a clear change in tenor for these Midnight Madness parties.

In 2007, it was easy to get fired up about the basketball season. The Hoyas were coming off their best season in almost 25 years. They had won Big East Regular season and the Big East Tournament, a feat never accomplished by any Georgetown team. They had reached the Final Four in dramatic fashion, playing one of the best games in Hoya History. And the team was returning everyone except Jeff Green. There were lots of reasons to be excited.

Last year’s Midnight Madness was a little different. Many fans still had the disastrous end of the previous season on their minds, and the team had lost a big chunk of veteran players. But still, Georgetown had won back to back regular season titles, the arrival of Greg Monroe had Hoya fans abuzz, and there was a general sense of good things to come.

Things didn’t pan out as planned, however. Last season was a complete disappointment. A team that was ranked as high as #9 in the AP Poll and #8 in the Coaches’ Poll failed to make the NCAA Tournament, and was then vanquished in the first round of the NIT. Not exactly a season to remember.

So, what about this year? It’s always hard to get excited about the unknown. In one sense, last year’s performance makes it hard to get excited about the upcoming season, especially with the loss of Jessie Sapp and DaJuan Summers. On the other hand, it is always fun to see the new team for the first time, and all fans should all be optimistic at the start of the season.

Perhaps the most important point is this: Midnight Madness is precisely that. Madness. No games have been played, no trophies awarded, and, in fact, no practices even held. And if you’re unsure about the upcoming season, good. That’s how you should feel. If anyone is sure their team will win a national title, or lose every game of the season, now that would be madness.