Some last-chance preparation is the only thing that separates the Central Michigan men's basketball team from the beginning of a season with the highest expectation of any in recent memory.

The Chippewas were named the No. 1 team in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll and open the 2015-16 regular season campaign at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14 at McGuirk Arena against Jacksonville State.

CMU aims to repeat the success it unexpectedly managed last year en route to the MAC Championship Game, which it lost to Buffalo before exiting in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Fourth-year coach Keno Davis has turned CMU into a championship contender and was given a five-year, $300,000 contract extension after leading CMU to a 23-9 overall record and the No. 1 seed in last year's conference tournament.

The Chippewas return all five starters from a season ago, including a key pair of seniors — point guard Chris Fowler and forward John Simons. Fowler and Simons averaged 16 and 12 points per game respectively during their junior seasons and are one of the biggest reasons CMU's billing is so high heading into the 2015 season opener.

"It gives some validation for the players that have worked so hard," Davis said of the ranking. "They are working just as hard as they ever have. Now you aren't talking about what you are going to be, you are talking about what you already are."

(MORE: Women's basketball prepares for season without Bradford)

Unmatched depth was another category CMU stood apart from the conference-wide crowd in 2014-15. The Chippewas took a blow to their bench when forward Blake Hibbitts tore his ACL during the offseason.

Hibbitts will not play this year.

"Our depth was our strength last season," Davis said. "There are a lot of guys out there that are excited at the opportunity of extra minutes. You let the players make the decision (of who plays in Hibbitts' absence) for you. Some of it will be game-to-game, but it will come down to who is able to put up the numbers."

Davis will be counting on Fowler to bring stability to CMU's offense, which was the best shooting team in the MAC last year, especially from the 3-point line.

"Whether we are making the 3s or not, it will be important that we do a good job of taking what the defense is giving us," Fowler said. "When we shot those 3s, we didn't do it because it was our pre-determined idea. We shot them because coach recruited good shooters and we got open shots."

Live by the three, die by the three, some would say about last year's team.

"When they would go in, we would look perfect," Fowler smirked. "When they didn't go down, people would say we were dying by the three. Sometimes you get so comfortable shooting. We will continue to prepare the way we need to and take what the defense gives us no matter what it is."

On the other end, Davis said CMU will need to tighten up defensively if it is going to win conference games on the road and late in the season.

"The seniors have been through the dog days and been able to respond when you have a bad game or a miracle shot goes in. We showed it better than anybody last year, anybody can be anybody," Davis said. "We say, let's be a postseason team before we reach the conference tournament."

"You can't play differently just because the stakes are higher."