The Broncos returned senior Thomas Wilder who after his brief stint with the NBA draft, made the decision to come back and play his last year. Wilder averaged 19.3 points and 4.3 rebounds his junior season. Western Michigan also returned four starters from last seasons team and had head coach Steve Hawkins who is in his fifteenth season coaching on their side.
The stars seemed aligned and the odds in favor of WMU holding the MAC championship trophy and punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament, but Western Michigan ended the regular season 17-14 and made a first-round exit in the MAC tournament.