Judged against the two previous seasons, this was a down year for the MCC, with only one team, Butler, gaining a national postseason berth. For the first time in three years, the conference was shut out of the NIT.

Butler, the regular-season and conference tournament champion, won the league's automatic NCAA berth and played fiercely in a one-point, first-round loss to Florida. The Bulldogs went home earlier than they would have preferred, but it took a buzzer-beating shot by Mike Miller to knock them out.

The MCC's other brush with national recognition came in late December when Wright State, on its way to another in a string of losing seasons, rose up and stunned Michigan State, 53-49, in Dayton. Michigan State played without injured point guard Mateen Cleaves, but the upset nonetheless ranks with the biggest in college basketball history.

Conference champion

Butler erased all suspense with a 15-game winning streak. It was enough to hold off Cleveland State and defending champion Detroit for the regular-season title. The Bulldogs then tore through the league tournament, beating Detroit for the championship.

The only surprise was how easy the Bulldogs made it all seem. They routinely buried opponents by 20 points or more, especially at home in Hinkle Fieldhouse, where they went 13-0. They finished 23-8 overall, losing only twice in conference play. Consistent? Ask Wright State. The Raiders, the same team that beat Michigan State, twice lost to Butler by 24 points.

When the season was over, the Bulldogs suffered a loss that had to seem inevitable when coach Barry Collier left town after 11 season to take over at Nebraska which had fired Danny Nee following an 11-19 season.

Just as quickly, Butler tabbed Collier assistant Thad Matta to run the show. All that means for the rest of the MCC is that the Bulldogs will not be forced to start back at square one and will, again, be one of the favorites to win it all again next season.

Biggest disappointment

A talent-laden Cleveland State team easily qualifies. Rollie Massimino's Vikings finished second in the regular season but faded down the stretch, losing their final two games at home. This malaise carried over to the league tournament, where the Vikings barely showed a pulse in a first-round loss to Illinois-Chicago.

Biggest surprise

Few knew what to expect from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under first-year coach Bo Ryan. Sure, he had been the winningest coach in Division III history, but how would his style, particularly his reliance on 3-point shooting, translate to Division I? The answer came when the traditionally downtrodden Panthers finished above .500 at 15-14.

Player of the year

Detroit senior point guard Rashad Phillips led the league in scoring and finished fourth nationally, averaging 23.1 points per game. Sadly for the Titans, on many nights he was a one-man show. He'll be at the controls again next year having decided that, at 5-8, his best bet might be to finish his education.

Newcomer of the year

He was new, but hardly unknown. Cleveland State senior guard Damon Stringer had starred in the Big Ten at Ohio State, so tearing up the MCC -- he averaged 19.6 points, second only to Detroit's Phillips -- came naturally. The only question remaining about Stringer was whether the NCAA would grant him another year of eligibility. Cleveland State, which came to rely so heavily on the transfer, is petitioning.

Coach of the year

Butler's Barry Collier keeps collecting these trophies, but the choice here is Bo Ryan for posting a winning record in his first season at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Collier got the most out of his talent, of course, but he had been at Butler more than a decade and his system was well-established. In such programs, the younger players learn from the upperclassmen and the coach's role is lessened.

Ryan implemented a whole new system at UWM and had it running smoothly by mid-season. He brought excitement and sellouts to a school never known for either.

The future

Butler isn't going anywhere. The Bulldogs will be heavily favored next season to do exactly what they did this season, even with the loss of Collier and graduation of bruising forward Mike Marshall. Closing the gap thus becomes every opposing coach's focus. One team to watch is Wright State, whose two first-team all-MCC selections -- forward Kevin Melson and center Israel Sheinfeld -- both return and whose recruiting class is at least the equal of any conference foe.