Making Headway

(St. Louis, MO) – Knock them if you want. Keep Murray State out of the NCAA tournament if you want, but the Ohio Valley Conference has set another league record. For the first time in OVC history, there are five teams in postseason play.

After Belmont’s nail-biting, upset win over Murray State put the Bruins in the NCAA tournament, there was a lot of national conversation about Murray State’s worth as a potential tournament team. Eventually, the Racers were rejected by the selection committee and Steve Prohm’s team is playing in the National Invitation Tournament.

Belmont (22-10) is a 15 seed in the East region, and will battle 2^nd seeded Virginia (29-3) in a Friday afternoon game in Charlotte. The Bruins will be huge underdogs in that contest.

Murray State (27-5) was exiled to the NIT, where they are a three seed. Their first round opponent is UTEP (22-10), as they attempt to win their second straight postseason tournament. The Racers were last year’s champion of the College Insider.com Tournament (CIT).

Three OVC teams are playing in the CIT this year. Eastern Illinois (17-14) is making just their second postseason appearance. Their only other foray into the second season was a 2001 entry into the NCAA’s. Joining the Panthers in the CIT are Eastern Kentucky (19-11) and UT-Martin (18-12).

Eastern Kentucky is 1-10 all-time in postseason play. It is just the second postseason game for Martin.

The OVC has a great opportunity to raise their national profile with a few March wins. Obviously if Belmont would upset Virginia, it would be national news and one of the great Cinderella moments of the tournament, but beyond that, Murray has a great chance to run deeply in the NIT and having three teams in the CIT opens up big doors for the OVC.

Here’s the Schedule:

Tuesday – March 17 – NIT – UTEP @ Murray State 8 pm

CIT – Eastern Illinois @ Oakland – 6 pm

Norfolk State @ Eastern Kentucky – 6 pm

Thursday – March 19 – CIT – UT Martin @ Northwestern State – 6:30 pm

Friday – March 20 – NCAA – Virginia v. Belmont – 2:10 pm (Charlotte)

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