CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Ryan Sidney wasn't just squawking to his teammates in his normally goading manner. This time, he was actually singing to himself, and to them, while going through Boston College's offensive plays at Monday's practice.

But the foolishness stopped when it was time to get serious and play. Sidney didn't have to get a silence order from seniors Troy Bell or Uka Agbai or coach Al Skinner. Instead, it was just expected that when it was time to play, there was no time for horsing around.

BC didn't exactly take games lightly last season, but the Eagles admitted lack of mental toughness in the final minutes proved costly to a team that fell from the top of the Big East in 2001 to one game away from not getting an NCAA Tournament invitation in 2002 and losing to Texas in the first round.

	Ryan Sidney and BC would just as soon forget portions of last season.

The team that appeared to be one of the toughest teams heading into the 2001-02 season was a bit soft late in games. The Eagles blew leads to New Hampshire, Michigan, Massachusetts and Iowa State -- but still won. As Agbai bluntly put it, they folded in losses to Connecticut, Virginia Tech, Providence and Pittsburgh.

"Some people are born with mental toughness and some don't have it," Agbai said. "We didn't pull out some games. We weren't deep. We didn't have people come in to do the same things as starters. It is tough when everyone is in the game for nearly 40 minutes."

"No one stepped up," said Sidney. "I didn't step up, but I was just a sophomore. I wasn't leading the team. I was a role player. We didn't have the leadership in the second half. But the changes are there in the intensity of practice this year. Everything is changing with Troy and Uka as our leaders. Last year, it was just me and Troy foolin' around in practice."

Skinner would probably question Sidney's description of practice, but the reality was Bell, Agbai and, to some extent, Sidney, didn't try to usurp power from then seniors Kenny Walls and Brian Ross. They respected the hierarchy, like they did the previous season when seniors Jon Beerbohm, Kenny Harley and Xavier Singletary led the Eagles to the Big East regular-season and tournament title.

"I was mentally tough, but sometimes I got tired," Bell said. "We didn't come up with key rebounds like we did the year before. Kenny (Walls), who is one of my best friends, was a captain, but he wasn't the leader type of guy. Brian Ross had his own issues (mostly playing time). But this year we don't have that. We're closer. Last year, guys didn't know who needed to have the ball, but that's not the case this year."

And being tougher mentally means reading your own body. Sidney admits that he hurt his game, and possibly the team's, by playing through a broken jaw. The Eagles still won games with Sidney, like when he scored 16 against Iowa State, but he went from 200 to 185 pounds "in three days and that was too much for a body to take."

Sidney is still one of the tougher players in the country, getting into the minds of an opponent and opposing coach, even causing Connecticut's Jim Calhoun during the loss to UConn to get riled up when Sidney was mocking him. But having Bell and Agbai as his superiors seems to have mellowed him a tad.

"We're a lot tougher and we won't stand for a lot of things that happen last year," Agbai said. "I wasn't vocal. There's no reason for me not to be vocal this year and to be tougher on people. There's no reason for Troy not to be tougher on people. Ryan still talks too much, but that's Ryan. You either accept it or ignore it. That's the way he is and that's his character."

This team does have more character and chemistry than last season and it was clear during Monday's practice. The Eagles won't be as predictable with Bell and Sidney just jacking up shots.

Skinner has more options with freshman point Louis Hinnant making strides as a decent playmaker three weeks into practice. Skinner could go with Hinnant at the point, Bell and Sidney in the backcourt, and Andrew Bryant (4.1 ppg) and Agbai (11.9 ppg, 6 rpg) up front. If he sends those five out, Hinnant would take some pressure off of Bell having to be the playmaker for the whole game and he might be less fatigued in the game's final minutes. Skinner could keep Bell and Sidney on the perimeter, with Bryant, Agbai, and thick freshman and developing low-post scorer Craig Smith and/or improved face-the-basket sophomore shooter Nate Doornekamp at the other forward spot.

Big freshman shooting guard Johnnie Jackson, sophomore defensive point Jermaine Watson and surprise, steady freshman point guard walk-on Tavio Hobson give the Eagles depth they had two seasons ago, but not last season.

"We had a short bench, but this year we've got better overall basketball players," Skinner said. "Leadership is important and you need to have the people on the floor to execute what the coaches want and for the players to have confidence in each other. There were times when we lacked confidence in each other. It didn't help that Ryan wasn't the player he was the year before (even though numbers were up from 9.4 to 13.7 ppg). We'd like to think we've got the support for him."

Bell is in the best shape of his life and it helps that he's not thinking about the NBA this season. The question of should he stay or go dogged him throughout last season, even though his numbers were almost the same (20.4 ppg to 21.6, but his 3-point shooting went from 39.1 percent to 30.1 percent).

"Last year didn't go the way I would have liked it," Bell said. "I didn't have time to do the extra stuff with my class schedule. But I don't have as many classes and I'm getting in the extra shooting. We'll be a lot more mature at the end of games, like we were my sophomore year."

BC will need to be much better as a whole to get out of one of the two toughest divisions within a conference this season (the other is the SEC East). Connecticut, Boston College, St. John's and Villanova could make a legitimate case for the division crown, while Providence and Virginia Tech won't be an easy get for anyone home or road this season.

The Eagles were one of the last teams in the NCAA field last season and probably wouldn't have earned a bid if the Eagles didn't win at Syracuse to close the regular season or beat Rutgers in the Big East tournament. Road games this season at Iowa State and N.C. State give them some potential RPI points and crossover games at Syracuse and against Notre Dame will help, too.

But the questions of late-game toughness probably kept BC out of the preseason top 25.

"What people saw was Ryan having a subpar year, Troy having a subpar year and not being familiar with Uka, Nate, Craig or Louis," Skinner said. "They just saw an OK Big East team last year. But there were a lot of reasons why we were just OK. These guys want to go out and earn the respect.

"In this league it's extremely difficult to stay on top," Skinner said. "Teams that are good remain good. We're a perfect example of trying to get up there. It's extremely difficult to have success in this league and hopefully we'll continue to do that. If you are competing in this league then you'll be one of the better teams nationally."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.