By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY — Lisa Bluder addressed the high expectations on the Iowa women’s basketball team during Wednesday’s media day.

It didn’t take long for those expectations to grow.

The Big Ten announced later Wednesday morning that the Hawkeyes are preseason favorites to win the conference title, with guard Caitlin Clark picked the conference’s preseason player of the year.

It’s the second consecutive year the Hawkeyes have been the preseason favorite. They finished in a tie for second last season before winning the Big Ten Tournament on their way to the Final Four and a spot in the national championship game.

The Hawkeyes have been picked at No. 6 in preseason national rankings by The Athletic and espnW. Bluder noted during her press conference that Iowa was at No. 4 in last season’s preseason rankings.

“So we’re down from last year,” she said, smiling. “So, less pressure, right?”

Bluder repeated her message from last year — one she admitted she took from the title of a book written by tennis legend Billie Jean King — that “pressure is a privilege.”

 “I think we have to remember that, that we’re in this situation of facing pressure because we’ve done well,” Bluder said. “Let’s enjoy that. Let’s rejoice about that. Try to enjoy it and not think about the overall picture, but just enjoy every single day. It sounds so simplistic, but I think that’s the way we have to handle it.”

“That’s something that you welcome,” said Clark, the reigning national player of the year who currently possesses just about every postseason award imaginable. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. The girls in the locker room wouldn’t want it any other way. We want to be ranked in the top 10. We want a sold-out arena. We want fans on the road booing us. That’s what a competitor wants. 

“You welcome it. You enjoy it. At the end of the day, you understand like this is special. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t run away from it. Just enjoy it and soak it in, because no other Iowa women’s basketball team in history has had an opportunity to be in an environment like this.”

Iowa sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke said it’s all about turning a page from last season.

“This is a new team,” she said. “It’s not going to be the same (as last season). We’re not going to play the same. But we have the same goals.”

Then Stuelke came up with her own message.

“‘New year, new me,'” she said. “It’s an exciting new journey.”

Photo: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (left), Gabbie Marshall (center) and assistant coach Abby Stamp laugh during the Hawkeyes’ first official practice of the season last week. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)