Despite the January rout of national powerhouse Connecticut, despite Steve Novak's 121 made three-pointers, despite the team's fourth-place finish in its first season in the Big East, Marquette still was not the best college basketball team in Milwaukee.

The entire regular season was just a tease.

One and done in the Big East tournament, and done in one at the NCAA tournament.

In both losses, Marquette was the higher (albeit slightly) seed.

After the initial disappointment, the "wait till next year" rallying cry of Marquette fans everywhere needs to be put in perspective. The future of Marquette basketball looks bright for freshmen Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, who may end up leading the Golden Eagles deep into post-season play before their time is up.

But this is too presumptuous.

And irrelevant for the time being, because the first "aw, shucks" reaction to Marquette's 90-85 loss to Alabama last week illustrated how far the program had advanced over the last four months. Try asking fans walking out of the Bradley Center after a November loss to Winthrop — which seems forgivable now, given that Winthrop nearly won an NCAA tournament game as a No. 15 seed — whether they would be disappointed in a first-round loss in the 2006 NCAA tournament.

Head coach Tom Crean, Novak and fellow seniors Joe Chapman and Chris Grimm, and the fearless freshmen unexpectedly raised fans' expectations of the team by going 10-6 in the Big East and receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003.

The players' talent blossomed. Novak became more assertive on offense and showed a newfound toughness on the boards. Chapman, whose attitude was criticized by Crean in November, became a reliable perimeter threat. Ousmane Barro improved his finishing ability near the basket.

Crean gave the freshmen the freedom to attempt the spectacular and the freedom to make mistakes. Turnovers hurt the Golden Eagles in road losses, especially at Villanova, and McNeal in particular must improve his decision-making when he drives into a crowded lane.

The defeat at Villanova was also a great example of raised expectations. A close loss on the road against a top team was no longer a moral victory. Marquette beat two ranked opponents in three February nights, and they didn't seem like upsets.

So don't look to the future just yet, for the future does not guarantee tournament success. James, McNeal and Matthews aren't going to return next year to automatically make Marquette a superior team because they're a year older.

Keep the present emotions in mind. Embrace your anger over the team's poor perimeter defense and defensive rebounding against Alabama, over its poor awareness against Georgetown's backdoor cuts. Crean should want fans to expect more out of his team, to hold it to a higher standard.

But it would be nice to advance farther in the NCAA tournament than Wisconsin-Milwaukee one of these years.