All of the pieces were in place for Central Michigan to excel.
A core of players that helped the Chippewas to a remarkable and unexpected Mid-American Conference regular season championship, a MAC Tournament runner-up showing and an NIT Tournament berth remained largely intact.
In fact, Central Michigan led the nation during the 2015-16 campaign in a statistic called minutes continuity which determines whether the players who played the previous season also played during the current season. The Chippewas are at a whopping 84.2 percent, well above the national average of around 50 percent.
So it was no surprise that last year’s darlings were unanimously picked to win the MAC West title in the preseason poll and also garnered 15 votes to claim the MAC Tournament title.