Top Teams Square off Every Night
(St. Louis, MO) – Tennessee Martin has been the class of the Ohio Valley Conference and the Skyhawks lead the league race by two full games. But the OVC’s closing schedule is wild. While the league’s top six teams are fighting for positioning in the league tournament, they’ll be facing one another constantly.
UT Martin (19-5, 11-2) leads both Tennessee State (15-8, 9-4) and Southeast Missouri (14-10, 9-4) in the battle for first place. The top two teams in the conference’s final standings receive a double-bye in the OVC Tournament.
Without a deep dive into the statistical comparisons, the Skyhawks own a two-game lead on TSU and SEMO and a three-game margin over Lindenwood, Morehead State and Southern Illinois Edwardsville for one big reason. UTM is undefeated at home. While each of the top six has been successful in OVC road games, they’ve all lost at least two on their home court.
Jeremy Shulman’s team is perfect through eleven games at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center and without blemish during six conference games there. During UT Martin’s final seven games, four are in Martin, Tennessee and three of those home games will be against TSU, SEMO and Morehead State (12-12, 8-5).
If the Skyhawks just hold serve at home, they will be no worse than a double-bye team in Evansville. Tennessee State’s last two games are on the road at SEMO and at Tennessee Martin.
Closing Schedule is Wild
Saturday, UT Martin begins the gauntlet of four straight against the league’s top six teams.
The top six OVC teams meet constantly during the season’s final month. UTM and TSU face all five of the other top six teams during their final seven contests. SEMO faces four. While there are important games on Saturday, next week is pivotal for the Skyhawks, SEMO and Lindenwood (15-10, 9-5) and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (15-9, 8-5).
The OVC’s ‘travel partner’ scheduling system brings SEMO and UTM to Lindenwood and SIUE next Thursday and Saturday. Outside of the top three vying for those top two spots and a double-bye, remember the third and fourth place teams receive a single-bye at the league tournament. The visiting Skyhawks and Redhawks can deal severe blows to the hopes of the St. Louis area teams, or Lindenwood and SIUE can throw the whole league race into turmoil!
Lurking in the shadows is Morehead State. Of the league’s top six teams, they are the only one with five of their final games against the bottom five teams in the current standings. Saturday they visit UTM and their other ‘top six’ game occurs when they entertain Tennessee State next Saturday.
The closing schedule is wild. Outside of the head-to-head matchups, during the final weekend, Lindenwood and SIUE are hosting Western Illinois (0-13) and Eastern Illinois (5-8) while the Skyhawks, Redhawks and Tigers all face one another. TSU visits both SEMO and UTM.
Don’t skip Saturday’s games, but after that, the schedule is wild.
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Editor: Cover photo, courtesy of utmsports.com.
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