Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the OVC.  The OVC Tournament begins at on-campus venues on Tuesday before moving to Nashville, TN, for the final two rounds.

Regular Season Wrap-Up

How can you not be happy for UT Martin’s Bret Campbell?  After years and years of finishing at the bottom of the OVC, Campbell has led the Skyhawks to the top of the OVC.   Martin’s 79-65 win over Morehead State on Saturday night clinched the school’s first-ever OVC title and just the second 21-win season in school history (first-ever in Division One.)

Campbell is really one of the good guys in college coaching.  He’s paid his dues and at times really struggled to get the UTM program growing.  He caught a real break when he was able to land a talent like Lester Hudson and caught another break when Hudson decided to return for his senior season.  Campbell was able to go out and find a great supporting cast and now UTM is on the verge of making their first-ever NCAA Tournament if they can capture the OVC Tournament title this week.

That will be much easier said than done.

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Jared Quillen is the RTC correspondent for the SEC. With tournament action set to tip from Atlanta on Thursday, get set with RTC’s regular season recap and postseason outlook.

Postseason Preview

Hottest Teams Going Into The Postseason:

• Florida – Pasting Alabama to close out the season is a really good sign.
• Kentucky – Looking good on a lot of people’s brackets after winning two tough ones and they’ve been top 10 at KenPom.com all season.

Tournament Sleeper: Mississippi State – Too much talent here to not be dangerous when push comes to shove.  The question is, will they play the way they’re capable or the way when they’ve fumbled?

Best First Round Matchup: Tennessee vs. Arkansas, Thursday – The South Carolina/Ole Miss game doesn’t carry much weight, and I don’t see Georgia having too much trouble with Auburn, nor Vanderbilt with LSU.  Arkansas is the higher seeded team here due to the wackiness of the Southeastern Conference Tournament seeding (more on that later).  Arkansas won the previous meeting 68-65 in Fayetteville.

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Morehead State (#16, Midwest, Dayton pod)
vs. Louisville (#1) having defeated Alabama State on 3/17/09 in the Preliminary Round.
Friday, March 20th at 7:10 pm
Vegas Line:  TBD

General Profile

Location: Morehead, Kentucky — approx. 50 miles east of Lexington on I-64
Conference: Ohio Valley Conference — Tournament Champion

Coach: Donnie Tyndall; hired 2006. MSU record 46-48
08-09 Record: 19-15 (12-6 OVC)
Last 12 Games: 7-5, Won 3

Best Win: at East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun tournament champion), 71-61 — 12/30/08

Worst Loss: vs Grambling State, 71-72 — 11/29/08

Off. Efficiency Rating: 101.1 (175th)

Def. Efficiency Rating: 101.4 (174th)

Nuts n Bolts

Star Player: Kenneth Faried, 13.9 ppg, 12.8 rpg (3rd nationally); 23 double-doubles this year

Unsung Hero: Leon Buchanan, 15.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg; 66.7% 3PFG (12th nationally)

Potential NBA Draft Pick(s): Faried, currently a sophomore, is a future candidate.

Key Injuries:  No significant injuries.
Depth: 24.9% bench minutes (303rd nationally)
Achilles Heel: Guarding the three. Opponents shoot 36.7% (290th nationally)
Will Make a Deep Run if…: Faried, Buchanan, and Maze Stallworth can all achieve an Arceneaux-level of performance, now that the prelim is over.
Will Make an Early Exit if…: They play their usual game, and a miracle doesn’t happen.  No disrespect intended, but Louisville isn’t Alabama State.  Congrats to Morehead on getting an NCAA Tournament win, but the road likely ends here for the Eagles.

NCAA History

Last Year Invited: 1984. Beat NC A&T (70-69) in the “Preliminary Round,” then lost to Louisville in Round of 64 (59-72).
Streak: Consecutive invites in 1956, 1957 and 1983, 1984.

Best NCAA Finish: 2-1 in 1956 (Lost in Sweet 16 and won Regional 3rd Place game)

Historical Performance vs. Seed (1985-present): n/a

Other

Six Degrees to Detroit: Junior guard Cecil Brown is from Grand Rapids, MI. The Eagles’ campus is 402 miles (6.5 hrs by car) from Detroit.

Distance to First Round Site: 193 miles

School’s Claim to Fame: One of only four US universities to offer a BS in Space Science. Also the alma mater of NPR personalities Steve Inskeep and Noah Adams, ESPN college football commentator Mike Gottfried, game show host Chuck Woolery.

School Wishes It Could Forget: Billy Ray Cyrus (of “Achy Breaky Heart” fame, and father of Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana) is an alum. The school doesn’t necessarily want to forget this…but a lot of people do.

Prediction: Lousville will be too much to handle, of course. It would take something even bigger than a Chaminade-like upset to get out of the official first round. This is a team that lost its last four games of the regular season before the OVC tournament and the play-in game. They deserve congrats for getting through the conference tournament, and I hope they enjoy the trip.

Major RTC stories: OVC Season Wrap & Tourney Preview; 4 Tickets Punched, 61 to go…
Preview written by: John Stevens, Rush The Court.

Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the OVC and MAC Conferences.

What in the world has happened to the MAC?  Check out Monday’s edition of bracketology and you’ll see Bowling Green as Joe Lunardi’s choice to be the MAC’s representative in the NCAA Tournament.  No problem with that, considering they edged Buffalo for the MAC regular season title on Sunday.  The problem lies with where they are seeded.  A #16 SEED!?!?!?  WHAT?!?!?!?  This conference is at maybe it’s lowest point in decades.  Scratch maybe.  This is rock bottom for the MAC.

With that being said, the play has been super-competitive within in the league.  Going into the final four game stretch, every team in the MAC East was alive for the league title.  We’re not even going to touch the West.  They were a flat debacle.  Nobody had a winning record.  Ball State had the most wins in the West and the Cardinals won 13 games.  Just sad.

The league did announce their postseason awards Monday.  Click here to take a look.

The league tournament starts on Tuesday and, if you throw out the West, the tournament should be wide open.

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