It's exciting to be in the championship. I won six districts in a row. I had at least one Division 1 player. This year I don't. I have a hard hustling and working team. They just work, work, work.

The fact that we've won division titles in such strange ways every single year, I don't think there is one thing you can say other than Bobby Cox.

I never wanted a championship as much as I did that first one, ... After the first one in 1964, the titles seemed to come in droves. I also think I became a better coach after winning that first championship. I still continued to emphasize winning the conference, but I became a better tournament coach, putting less pressure on the players.

We were 2-8 in the SEC and won six straight. And [we] got to the NCAA Tournament.

Who cares. We won the division.

All it takes is one or two bad years in a row, and we're back to a critical situation.