I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep my expectations. - Bill Watterson
Nothing really worth having comes quickly and easily. - Eknath Easwaran
Expectations can be a funny thing with sports teams and especially sports fans. Identical team records can resonate differently depending on what the fans were expecting that particular season. A team with championship aspirations may not handle losing well and put pressure on themselves to win. A team with no expectations of winning could play with no pressure and actually perform better than expected.
Fans will react differently to wins and losses based on the expectations set for their team.