Biggest Day of the Regular Season

Top Two Spots Still Up For Grabs

(St. Louis, MO) – Saturday is the biggest day of the regular season. The Ohio Valley Conference’s  top two teams receive a double bye in next week’s league tournament, while the third and fourth place teams receive a single bye.

Eastern Kentucky (14-16, 11-6) is locked into fourth place. Tennessee will be the fifth seed and Eastern Illinois will claim number six. The other five playoff spots are up for grabs.

Belmont (23-7), Murray State (21-8) and Austin Peay (20-10) are locked in a three-way tie for first place. Those three stand at 14-3. Austin Peay travels to Murray State, while Belmont visits Tennessee State.

The loser of the contest between Austin Peay and Murray State will drop out of the first place tie and will tumble to third place. A Belmont win would catapult the Bruins into a first place tie with the winner. Even with a loss, the Bruins will be the second seed in Evansville.

Tie-Breakers?

The OVC’s tie-breaking system is in head-to-head play. Step one would entail head-to-head outcomes between the tied teams. Then working from the top of the standings downward until the tie is broken. So much is up for grabs.

Belmont will own one of the two top seeds. The loser of the Murray State/APSU game will finish third. Why? Because of last week’s Eastern Illinois’, come-from-behind wins over Murray State and Austin Peay.

If Austin Peay wins, they are Evansville’s top seed. Even if Belmont wins at Tennessee State, the Governors’ claim the top spot because they swept Murray in the regular season while Belmont split with the Racers.

If Murray and Belmont win, then the Bruins are the top seed. Why? Because they have a better record against Eastern Illinois. Last week’s loss at EIU would push the Bruins into the top seed.

If APSU and Belmont both lose, the Bruins earn the number two seed due to the Governors’ loss at EIU. If Murray and Belmont are tied for second, the Bruins take the second spot because they earned a better record (1-1) against APSU while the Racers would be 0-2.

At the Other End of the Standings

Just eight of the OVC’s twelve teams qualify for a trip to Evansville’s Ford Center. UT Martin, Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Southeast Missouri will not be making the trip.

Morehead State and Jacksonville State are tied for seventh place with seven wins and ten losses. One game back is Tennessee Tech. JSU visits the Golden Eagles on Saturday. Morehead State visits EKU. One of those three teams will not qualify for the tournament.

Tie-Breakers?

If there is a three-way tie, Jacksonville State is number seven, Tennessee Tech is eighth and Morehead State is eliminated. In a tie scenario between JSU and Morehead, the Gamecocks are number seven and the Eagles finish eighth. Should Tech and JSU tie, the Golden Eagles land in the seventh spot.

The Tournament

The OVC tournament tips off Wednesday with the fifth place team playing the eighth place squad and number six facing number seven. Those winners play the third and fourth place teams on Thursday.

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