Normally, when the Auburn men’s swimming and diving team steps onto the pool deck at the NCAA Championships, everyone else stops and looks.

Winning eight NCAA titles since 1997 has that affect on opponents.

But following last season’s sixth-place finish – after having won the national championship six out of the last seven years – the bull’s-eye has shifted away from the Tigers.

Now, it’s on Texas, the defending champs, and Cal, which is just fine with Auburn as the 2011 NCAA Championships begin today at the University Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota’s campus Minneapolis.

“Last year, we didn’t perform at our best,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “I think the expectation was we were going to keep winning these things. So, it was a lot of pressure last year to repeat from 2009.

“This year, the pressure’s totally off us. All eyes are on Texas and Cal. So it’s good to actually come into a championship and be the underdog for a change and people not expecting too much.”

The Tigers will have 14 swimmers and one diver competing in the three-day meet, which is being held in the same venue where Auburn won its first title in 1997.

Hawke, a freshman in that meet, won the 50-freestyle title for the Tigers. Since then, Auburn also won the 2005 and 2007 NCAA championships at the University Aquatic Center.

“We have a great history in this pool where we’ve done some pretty special things,” Hawke said. “We’ve got a really strong tradition of winning up in this venue.”

Seniors Adam Brown and Kohlton Norys will lead the Tigers into this weekend’s championships.

Brown, a sprinter, who will compete in five events, including the 50 free and 100 fly, said the Tigers are relishing the underdog role because no one expects them to be in the title hunt.

“We have no pressure,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re here to swim fast and I think that’s what we’re going to do.”

Norys, the 2009 100-yard backstroke champion, agrees.

“It’s kind of a different role than we’re used to,” he said. “Going into this meet, we’re not really expected to do anything. … It kind of takes the burden off our shoulders and basically just allows us to have fun and swim as fast as we want.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to prove a lot of people wrong.”

Hawke said he expects Cal to be the favorite this weekend, with Texas not far behind it. But the Auburn coach says his Tigers can compete with the Bears in the relays and sprint events.

Plus, Auburn has diver Dan Mazzaferro, who is expected to score points in all three diving events – platform and 1 and 3-meter boards.

Points from Mazzaferro will go a long way toward the team title, as Cal doesn’t have any divers competing.

“I understand how important it is for me to do well,” Mazzaferro said. “Diving gives us three events that Cal can’t score any points in. So those three events are critical for Auburn to score points in, in order to gain and advantage.”

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