While there's little doubt UCF has been the most surprising program among the six that joined Conference USA in 2005, the Knights have also yet to take the next step toward a postseason berth.

UCF finished fifth in C-USA in 2005-06, second in 2006-07 and tied for fourth in 2007-08 at 9-7. At 16-15 overall, the Knights failed to put themselves in position for a bid to the NIT or CBI.

After a rugged nonconference schedule that included games against Villanova, UConn, Kansas State, Ole Miss and Nevada, UCF opened up its C-USA schedule with four straight wins. Unfortunately for the Knights, they followed that with three straight losses and also closed their season with three straight losses, including a 68-62 loss to Southern Miss in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament for the third consecutive season.

Now comes the hard part for the Knights. Coach Kirk Speraw, who has put the program on a firm foundation in his 14 seasons at UCF, is confident he's been able to elevate recruiting since UCF moved from the Atlantic Sun to C-USA. That recruiting will have to take hold with the loss of five seniors, including starting guards Mike O'Donnell and Dave Noel and starting center Stanley Billings.

After taking a lead scoring role from the perimeter the past two seasons, junior guard Jermaine Taylor will have to become more of a leader as a scorer. Sophomore forward Tony Davis will need to become more consistent inside and freshman guard Taylor Young will have to take on a bigger role at the point. A big key will be the addition of Clemson transfer A.J. Tyler, who sat out the 2007-08 season.

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