But that campaign is now well and truly underway after a 38-0 thrashing of French giants Toulouse on Friday evening.
Tries from Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Chris Henry and Nick Williams led them to victory, while Toulouse couldn't manage a single point at the Kingspan Stadium.
Paddy Jackson kicked 11 points for Ulster and the fly-half revealed he is enjoying life in Belfast.
"Since coming back from the World Cup, not playing for so long, I've been trying to find my feet a bit," he said. "I don't think I've been playing badly just maybe not as well as I could.
"Against Toulouse we started to run the ball a bit and I was glad to be a part of it."
Glasgow Warriors claimed a similarly impressive result at the expense of GUINNESS PRO12 rivals Scarlets, winning 43-6 at Scotstoun.
Duncan Weir, James Malcolm and Tim Swinson all crossed over but powerful Australian winger Taqele Naiyaravoro stole the show with a hat-trick of tries.
"I am really enjoying working with him," said Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend.
"These tries will give him a lot of confidence going forward. There is plenty more to come from him and he gives us a different dimension."
Elsewhere, the Ospreys beat Bordeaux-Begles 19-16 at the Liberty Stadium to move onto ten points at the halfway stage in Pool 2.
Dan Biggar scored all 19 of the hosts' points as they were made to battle for four points against 14-men Bordeaux.
In the Challenge Cup, Connacht preserved their winning start to the competition, making it three from three with a 25-10 victory over Newcastle Falcons.
Pat Lam's side relied on the boot of Jack Carty, who struck six penalties between the uprights, before a late Danie Poolman try made sure of the result.
Cardiff Blues showed their GUINNESS PRO12 win over Connacht the previous week was no one-off with a 37-27 victory against Montpellier.
The Blues, whose triumph over Connacht was their first in the league since the opening weekend, trailed 20-14 at the break - despite Rhys Patchell scoring in the first minute and Josh Navidi following suit on the stroke of half-time.
However, Lloyd Williams and Alex Cuthbert secured the try bonus point before Navidi's second made sure of the result.
And Newport Gwent Dragons stayed at the top of Pool B with a 22-0 home win against Pau, half-backs Sarel Pretorius and Dorian Jones with the tries.
In the weekend's other clashes, Munster were tripped up by Leicester Tigers at Thomond Park while reigning champions Toulon ground out victory over Leinster.
Benetton Treviso were beaten by Stade Francais, Zebre narrowly missed out on a losing bonus point at La Rochelle and Edinburgh came unstuck at the hands of London Irish.
To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
63x46.png){kind=logo}