The Oklahoma women took the podium Tuesday afternoon to introduce themselves and their season, which begins in exhibition fashion Nov. 4 against Rogers State and for real Nov. 13 against Mercer.

The Sooners did not pledge to end hunger, war or to save the environment. Instead, their objective is only slightly more moderate.

"Our first goal is to win a national championship," said OU sophomore Whitney Hand, who, though not a captain, still began local media day festivities alongside junior point guard Danielle Robinson and senior forward Amanda Thompson, while other Sooners sat at tables, waiting for the team leaders to finish.

It may not seem odd, OU's goal.

It's exactly where many thought they would be beginning four seasons ago at March Madness' dawn, when they'd just finished running the Big 12 Conference table, regular season and tournament, in Courtney and Ashley Paris' first year on campus.

Ever since, the Final Four and a national championship seemed like a natural end for the program.

It didn't turn out that way. Courtney Paris rewrote the record book and Ashley Paris became an excellent four-year player, but OU didn't reach the Final Four until the twins' senior year, last season, and once there, OU was upset by Louisville.

To wish to return to March Madness' promised land this season would appear to require uncommon chutzpah.

Robinson, at 12.9 points per game, is OU's leading returning scorer. No other returnee even averaged 10 last season. And not only are the Parises gone, they took more than 50 percent of the Sooners' rebounding from a year ago with them (23.5 of the team's 43.5 average).

The Sooners have been picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 by conference coaches behind Baylor, Kansas, Texas and Texas A--M. Yet, there they were Tuesday, talking about going all the way.

If such talk bothers anybody, Sooner coach Sherri Coale is not one of those people.

She remembers her first year at Norman High School. She went 11-12 and her players were thrilled. She likes that it takes more to thrill her players now.

"It all depends on your vantage point and what your experience has been," she said. "And I think when kids says that 'Anything less than a Final Four and a national championship opportunity would be a disappointment,' to me, that's a reflection that their experience has been very, very good and that their confidence is high."

The Sooners have pieces that might fit into a championship puzzle, beginning with Robinson, the preseason All-Big 12 point guard selection. Thompson has been a full-time starter most of the time since arriving in Norman from Chicago and Hand appears to have All-American tools, though the offense didn't find her so often a year ago, most of it running through the Parises in the paint.

"We're so motivated to get back there," Hand said. "We're all motivated to do the work."