For all the feel-good attitude Ball State's basketball team brought out this season, spurred by its gritty, never-quit presence, one thing couldn't be denied.

The Cardinals didn't know how to win games.

Ball State suffered through a 6-24 season, breaking its record for losses in a season one year after breaking the mark with 22 defeats. For all the losing it did, it was a competitive group that earned plaudits for its play.

Ohio coach Tim O'Shea said he believed Cardinals coach Billy Taylor should be the Mid-American Conference coach of the year. Taylor took over a program that was in shambles after it quickly deteriorated during Ronny Thompson's one year on the bench.

Thompson resigned during the summer, and Taylor was hired in August. Taylor literally hit the ground running and watched the program fall apart as two players left and four others were dismissed. Ball State began the season with just eight scholarship players and four walk-ons on its roster.

Predictably, the Cardinals lost their first 11 games. But instead of folding, the players rallied and played competitive basketball throughout the MAC season. They finished 5-11 in the MAC, and had a legitimate chance to win half of the games they lost.

Proof of Ball State's improvement came in the final month of the season. The Cardinals played each of the league's top four seeds one time. They lost each of those games, but they fell to No. 1 Kent State by only three points in overtime, to No. 2 Western Michigan by four, to No. 3 Akron by nine and No. 4 Ohio by two.

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