OVC Final Standings

Congratulations to the Murray State Racers for the best regular season in MSU history. We will hope they can keep things going in this week's OVC Tournament, held in creaky old Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. (One of the high points of my college years was going to a Jimmy Swaggert meeting in Municipal Auditorium, just a few years before he was brought down by scandal). Congratulations also to Morehead State, which won its last four OVC games to climb up to third place.

Ken Pomeroy's ranking is next to each team:

48. Murray St: 15-1, 28-1
182. Tennessee St: 11-5, 19-11
201. Morehead St: 10-6, 17-14
186. Tennessee Tech: 9-7, 18-12
237. SE Missouri St: 9-7, 14-15
188. Jacksonville St: 8-8, 14-17
212. Austin Peay: 8-8, 12-19
269. E. Kentucky: 7-9, 16-15
308. SIU-Edwardsville: 6-10, 9-17
303. E. Illinois: 5-11, 12-17
334. UT-Martin: 0-16, 4-27

Here's how the OVC Tournament will work:

1. The top 8 teams make the tournament. So SIU-Edwardsville, E. Illinois, and UT-Martin are eliminated.

2. In the first round, SEMO will play Eastern, and Jacksonville State will play Austin Peay.

3. In the second round, the SEMO-Eastern winner will play Tennessee Tech, while the Jacksonville State-Austin Peay winner will play Morehead.

4. In the semi-finals (to be held Friday night), Murray will play the survivor of SEMO, Eastern, and Tennessee Tech. Tennessee State will play the survivor of Jacksonville State, Austin Peay, and Morehead.

5. The winners of the semi-finals will meet on Saturday afternoon for the title.

So if the seeds hold, Murray will have to beat the same two teams they just played -- Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State -- to capture the title.