Stay on a beat long enough as a sportswriter, and you’re going to come to an inevitable dilemma.

When assessing the team you cover, you’ll eventually have to ask yourself if you’re biased. If you’ve been swayed by the players and coaches you cover, and if you’re not seeing things entirely clearly.

If anything, you hope you are the team’s harshest critic in almost every instance.

It doesn’t always work this way, of course, but on the other hand, the last thing you want is for your optimism to somehow make you delusional.

So here’s the problem: everyone I read and talk with seems to believe Lake Travis is no longer one of the best teams in Central Texas. And I’m not really sure why.

OK, I take that back, I get it. Garrett Gilbert is gone, and so are plenty of other starters from the last two state championship seasons. But mainly, every critic is of the belief that Gilbert’s name should be engraved on the championship trophies, not the Cavaliers as a whole.

And you know what? I understand. We all know what kind of talent Gilbert was and is. But to suggest that a 4A championship was won by a quarterback alone is ludicrous.

I think you could have plugged in Todd Reesing or Nick Bird into last year’s offense, and I bet the team would have had a shot at a title. The Cavs wouldn’t have dominated the same way, but it would have been one of the best teams in the state. That’s because it’s no longer about individual players. It’s about a system. A program. Coaches that squeeze something extra out of a group of talented players across the board.

I’ve convinced myself that this team has just reloaded, and that it will never rebuild, at least, not anytime soon.

Do my eyes deceive me? Have I become swayed by constant interaction with a group of players that are fun to watch and have conversations with? These are the questions I constantly ask myself.

So, without further ado, these are my predictions.

I feel like Lake Travis is more talented than any of its regular season opponents. But it’s a young team, so I think the Cavaliers will lose one of the first three games against Westwood, Westlake and Cedar Park.

If they don’t, more power to them. Then they’ll be even more grown up than I thought they would be. I hope they’ll be 4-0 to start the season, but I think they’ll probably be 3-1, with a shootout against Westlake being the game in the air. The Chaparral’s new offensive attack is one the Cavaliers haven’t seen yet, and could result in the biggest offensive blowout since a battle with Beeville Jones in the 2007 playoffs.

My second prediction is another clean sweep of District 25-4A. The toughest team on the schedule should be Hendrickson, but a year after a 57-0 blowout, it’s hard to imagine a close game. Especially since the Hawks have no air attack. So expect a 6-0 run through district play, without much of a challenge.

My third prediction is that Region IV will come down to a Lake Travis – Cibolo Steele rematch. It’s a weak region, and Steele returns nearly every key player from last year’s breakout season, when the Knights were the second-best team in the region and had the Cavaliers on the ropes for a half in the Area Championship.

My fourth prediction is that Michael Brewer will be the offensive most valuable player in the district and will also be the CenTex Newcomer of the Year. There are plenty of skeptics who are happy to point out that he’s not Gilbert, but who cares? He’s really talented, and everyone will see. If he doesn’t throw for over 2,500 yards, I’ll be shocked.

My fifth and final prediction? The Cavaliers will be playing on the final week in December. The Longview Lobos will be waiting for them, ready to have their revenge. What happens next? I’m not going to say it, but let’s just say I think they can do it.

It’s been a quick seven months, and I may be crazy, but I’m ready to watch them defend the title and establish their place as a budding dynasty.

As usual, it should be a fun ride.