Fighting For Playoff Spots & Seedings

Everything In the OVC is Up For Grabs

(St. Louis, MO) – Everything in the Ohio Valley Conference is up for grabs! Two teams are tied for first place and two teams are one game back. Three teams are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot, but they are only one game out of seventh place.

Everything is up for grabs and there are just two games left.

At The Top of the Standings

Belmont and Murray State own identical (23-4, 14-2) records and lead Austin Peay and Jacksonville State (both at 21-8, 13-3) by one game. The top two OVC teams receive a double bye into the conference tournament’s semifinals. Teams 3-and-4 receive a single by into the quarterfinals.

Preseason favorite Belmont will finish with two road games. Tonight they travel to UT Martin (10-17, 5-11) and Saturday to Southeast Missouri (9-20, 4-12). UTM has won four straight home games and is tied for eighth place.

Murray State travels to Morehead State (11-18, 7-9) and finishes with a home game against Austin Peay. Morehead is tied with Eastern Illinois for fifth place. The Governors travel to dangerous Eastern Kentucky (12-17, 5-11) prior to their huge matchup with the Racers. APSU’s recent two-point loss to the Racers is what is keeping them from a first-place tie.

JSU spends the weekend on the road at EIU and Southern Illinois Edwardsville. The Gamecocks have swept their games with Belmont and Murray State and lost to Austin Peay, EKU and UT Martin.

Belmont has won eleven straight games and their only conference losses came from Jacksonville State and Murray has won seven straight. The Racers lost to JSU and the Bruins.

Any of the top four spots are still up for grabs and multiple tie-breakers could come into play.

Fighting for an Invitation to Evansville

Tennessee State (9-19, 6-10) is alone in seventh place. The Tigers could somehow climb to fifth or sixth, or could get lapped by a team or two and end up missing the postseason tournament. Penny Collins’ team travels to SEMO and to UT Martin.

SIUE (9-20, 5-11) is the third team tied for the final playoff spot. The Cougars stay home all weekend. Tonight they host last place Tennessee Tech (7-22, 3-13), and Saturday they host Jacksonville State. In head-to-head action the Cougars were swept by UT Martin and earned a double-overtime victory over Eastern Kentucky. SIUE has played four conference OT games. One of TTU’s three conference wins was an overtime conquest of the Cougars.

Tonight’s games set the stage for a spectacular Saturday finish where everything will be up for grabs.

Do Good