Years from now, when Western Michigan's basketball players get together, they'll likely reminisce about the fine season they put together in 2007-08 after a rough start in the nonconference portion of their schedule.

In the short term, however, they'll probably be upset about the way they were passed over by not one, but two secondary postseason tournaments.

Despite posting a 20-12 record this season, winning the Mid-American Conference West championship, and gaining the No. 2 seed for the league tournament, Western Michigan was bypassed for all three college postseason tournaments.

That the Broncos weren't picked for the NCAA Tournament was no surprise. But they felt they should have been included in either the NIT or the new College Basketball Invitational. Akron of the MAC was selected for the NIT, and MAC members Ohio and Miami were tapped by the CBI.

Western Michigan beat Akron by 20 points in the regular season and lost to the Zips by 11 in the MAC tournament. The Broncos beat Miami and lost to Ohio in close regular-season games.

The Broncos didn't put themselves on the national radar as they posted a 6-7 record in the first two months of the season. They smoothed out their inconsistent play early in January by winning seven of their first nine MAC games.

Western Michigan was a good team the rest of the season. It battled Kent State for the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, but remained a step behind the Golden Flashes after a nine-point loss at Kent in late January.

Senior center Joe Reitz and sophomore guard David Kool might have given the Broncos the best 1-2 combination in the MAC. They were the top scoring duo in league games, and both earned spots on the five-player All-MAC team.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.