OVC Update

Here are the final regular-season standings in the Ohio Valley Conference, with Ken Pomeroy's rankings next to each team:

EAST:
111.  Belmont:  14-2
143.  E. Kentucky:  11-5
181.  Morehead St:  10-6
265.  Tennessee Tech:  9-7
288.  Tennessee St:  4-12
315.  Jacksonville St: 4-12

WEST:
158.  Murray St:  13-3
246.  SE Missouri St:  8-8
285.  SIU-Edwardsville:  7-9
291.  E. Illinois:  7-9
294.  Austin Peay:  6-10
319.  UT-Martin:  3-13

Tennessee St., Jacksonville St., Austin Peay, and UT-Martin have been eliminated, as they did not qualify for the OVC Tournament. 

Tonight, at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee Tech will play SIU-Edwardsville, while SEMo will play Eastern Illinois.

The winner of the Tennessee Tech game will advance to play Morehead, while the SEMo/Eastern Illinois winner will take on Eastern Kentucky.

Friday night Belmont will play Morehead, Tennessee Tech, or SIU-Edwardsville; while Murray will play Eastern Kentucky, SEMo, or Eastern Illinois.

The final will take place Saturday at 6 P.M. Central.

Here are each team's chance of victory, according to Ken Pomeroy:

1.  Belmont:  53.1 percent
2.  Murray St:  20.1 percent
3.  E. Kentucky:  16.6 percent
4.  Morehead St:  7.9 percent
5.  SE Missouri St:  1.5 percent
6.  Tennessee Tech:  0.8 percent
7.  SIU-Edwardsville:  0.5 percent
8.  E. Illinois:  0.2 percent

For the record, here is how Belmont did against the three Kentucky schools this year (home team listed first).  The Bruins went 4-1, but three of their wins were very close:

1/16:  E. Kentucky 74 - 63 Belmont
1/23:  Belmont 80 - 66 Morehead St.
1/25:  Belmont 84 - 81 E. Kentucky
1/29:  Morehead St. 73 -76 Belmont
2/06:  Belmont:  99 - 96 Murray St.

Based on those scores, we could see some very entertaining basketball in the OVC Tournament.