Indiana State's season was defined by incremental progress, not the great leap forward that some of its fans expected when Kevin McKenna was hired in March 2007. Despite that, Indiana State won two more games overall and three more in the conference than the previous season. The Sycamores moved from 10th to seventh in the final standings.

The Sycamores began to master McKenna's spread offense as the 2007-08 season progressed. Defensively, Indiana State never got a handle on some of the presses McKenna wanted to implement, but did do a good job adjusting to his switching defenses, a departure from ex-coach Royce Waltman's strict man-to-man philosophy.

The Sycamores were defined by their home and road personas. Indiana State was 12-2 at Hulman Center and 2-13 in true road games, a sign the coaching staff translates to mean that the Sycamores need more toughness.

Indiana State did give hope for the future with a four-game winning streak late in the season that allowed the Sycamores to control their own destiny as far as their MVC tournament seed.

But befitting their up-and-down season, the Sycamores lost the two games that would have helped them escape the MVC play-in round for the first time since 2001. It was a damaging loss as far as the fan base was concerned, the air going out of the balloon after the second of the two losses at home to Missouri State on March 1.

Indiana State has a long road ahead to get into the top half of the MVC, but McKenna's first season was a typical first step in building a program.

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