2010 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will begin this Tuesday when the top eight teams from the regular season will tangle for the right to be named champions of the OVC and more importantly earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Morehead State, which claimed the tournament title last season, finished with an impressive 15-3 mark in conference action, but that was only good enough for the second seed. The top seed belongs to Murray State, which earned that honor by posting an outstanding 17-1 mark against league foes. However, claiming the regular-season title is nothing new for the Racers, who now have accomplished the feat 21 times. After Murray State and Morehead State there is a large drop off in production, as Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky all finished with 11-7 marks on the season and will play as the third, fourth and fifth seeds in the tournament, respectively. The final three seeds belong to Tennessee Tech (8-10), Jacksonville State (7-11) and Tennessee State (6-12), all of which finished below .500 in conference action.

Since the Racers claimed the top spot during the regular-season the team will now have the luxury of hosting the eighth-seeded Tennessee State Tigers. The Racers completely dominating the Tigers in both meetings this season, winning each game by more than 20 points apiece. However, that should not be surprising since the Racers led the conference at both ends of the floor. Murray State finished the regular season on top of the conference with 78.5 ppg, and also held the opposition to a league best 61.4 ppg. Five different players are posting double figures for the Racers, but none of those players are producing more than 11.0 ppg. B.J. Jenkins is leading the team with 10.7 ppg, to go along with 105 assists, while Danero Thomas and Ivan Aska are posting 10.6 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.

There is no doubt that the Tigers will have their hands full in this first round matchup, as the team will likely need to play a perfect game to corral a victory. Tennessee State, which finished just 9-22 on the season, and 6-12 in league play, comes into this matchup struggling at the offensive end of the court. With Josh Sain out, the Tigers have relied on Jacquan Nobles to pace the squad, but the guard is netting just 11.4 ppg. TSU is producing only 67.8 ppg on the season, but the team's play defensively is what has hurt the Tigers, as they are currently surrendering 73.9 ppg.

The Eagles will take their first steps towards repeating as tournament champions Tuesday night when they host the Jacksonville Gamecocks, who will be playing as the seventh-seed. The Eagles finished regular-season action with a 15-3 conference mark, and usually a ledger of that nature would be good enough for the top seed. However, Morehead State will have to roll as the second seed in the tournament. Morehead State closed out its regular season with six wins in its last eight games, and that includes an impressive 70-65 victory over Murray State back on February 25th. Morehead State is currently holding opponents to just 63.4 ppg, and at the other end of the floor the team is being paced by Kenneth Faried, who is one of the best players in the conference. Faried averaged a double-double on the year with 16.8 ppg and 13.0 rpg, while Maze Stallworth has helped out with 12.6 ppg.

The Gamecocks will have a tall mountain to climb Tuesday, especially since the team closed out its regular season with seven losses in its last eight games, and that includes a five-game skid. Jacksonville State has been nothing more than mediocre offensively and comes into this first round matchup producing 70.1 ppg. Trenton Marshall is leading the team with 17.7 ppg, while Nick Murphy is posting 14.4 ppg, to go along with a team-high 7.2 rpg.

After Murray State and Morehead State, the Governors were the next best thing in the Ohio Valley, finishing with an 11-7 mark, which earned them the third seed in the tournament. Due to their mild success, the Govs will now get to host the sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Tuesday night on their home floor. Austin Peay closed out its regular-season in thrilling fashion by defeating Southeast Missouri State, 71-68, in overtime. It was the seventh win in the last 11 games for Austin Peay, which heads into this matchup averaging 72.7 ppg. Wes Channels is currently leading the team with 17.0 ppg, and has also dished out 93 assists on the season.

As for the Golden Eagles, they were soaring through the season, but hit a wall in the month of February, dropping six of their last eight games. However, the team was able to close out its regular-season schedule with a 72-62 victory over Jacksonville State. Thanks to Kevin Murphy (15.6 ppg) and Frank Davis (14.0 ppg) the Golden Eagles finished second in the conference with 75.3 ppg. However, what has hurt TTU has been its inability to stop the opposition from scoring, as teams are currently averaging 77.8 ppg against the Golden Eagles, which places them last in the conference.

The final game of the first round will pit the fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois Panthers against the fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Both teams finished 11-7 on the season in league play, and Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky defended their respective home courts with a victory against one another. EKU finished the year with 20 total wins, but down the stretch the team lost three of its last five games, including an 88-74 loss to Murray State in its season finale. The Colonels have played tough offensively and are being paced by Justin Stommes, who is netting 14.3 ppg, to go along with a team-best 111 assists.

The Panthers on the other hand could be one of the hottest teams in the OVC tournament, as the team heads into this game riding a seven-game winning streak. Eastern Illinois has relied heavily on its play defensively, as the team is holding opponents to just 65.8 ppg. At the other end of the court the team is being paced by Tyler Laser, who is netting 14.1 ppg. Jeremy Granger, who is leading EIU with 96 assists, is also posting 10.3 ppg for the Panthers.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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