It’s that time of the year, again.

The weather gets colder, and students all over Greenville flock to local churches in hopes of continuing a tradition that has spanned decades. The church basketball season is upon us, and each team has the desire to take home the championship.

At Christ Church, there are many different players for various churches across the Upstate – each with different expectations going into the season. Senior Jack Strausbaugh, a team member of the First Presbyterian Church downtown, took an optimistic approach by saying that his team is “going to win it all.”

“If we don’t win it all, it’s a disappointment,” he adds. Strausbaugh places his team’s odds at “100 percent,” despite claiming that their toughest competition is St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church.

On the other hand, junior Jack Nichols, who plays for Christ Church Episcopal downtown, is pessimistic about his team’s odds to win, giving them a slim chance of winning it all. “Right now, [our expectations] are not very high because we’ve had very little player participation,” Nichols added.

When asked about Christ Church’s greatest competition, Nichols responded, “definitely Westminster, even though they’re pretty weak without their football players.” Regardless of his prediction, Jack hopes to have a tremendous role in his team’s success this season.

Temple of Israel, another under-the-radar team, has experienced relative success the past couple of years. Senior Nathan Akerhielm, a Temple of Israel athlete, says, “I think we got a good shot at being good; we’ve got a group of good players and good coaches.” Akerhielm believes that their greatest competition is Buncombe Street Methodist Church downtown. Temple of Israel hopes to beat Buncombe Street and secure a championship.

Regardless of their expectations, each team hopes to represent their church positively and secure the championship victory.