Coaches, SIDs say Redhawks will finish last in OVC

~ Eastern Kentucky is picked to win the conference.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Like most coaches, Tony Samuel doesn't put a whole lot of stock into preseason predictions.

So Samuel was not flustered Tuesday morning when his first Southeast Missouri State football team was picked to finish dead last in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The preseason poll, announced during the OVC's annual media day at LP Field (formerly the Coliseum), was voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

"That's why it's the preseason. I don't pay much attention to that," Samuel said. "Don't forget the term 'pre.' That's what it is. The key to the whole thing is at this point it's all speculation."

Coming off a 2-9 season -- 2-6 for seventh place in the nine-team OVC -- that led to Tim Billings' resignation, the Redhawks received 34 points to lag even behind the two squads it finished ahead of in 2005 -- Tennessee State and Murray State.

But Samuel, despite admitting he still has a lot to learn about his players and will begin to get a better feel for them when they report for fall camp on Aug. 6, doesn't see any reason why the Redhawks can't be competitive during his first season.

"We're new. Nobody knows us. They're just going on past history," said Samuel, whose squad returns 18 starters. "I think we've got a good talent base, but depth is a question. I think they've done a great job this summer, but the key for us is to have a good fall camp.

"Oh yeah, we should be able to compete with these guys. This is a very competitive league, but we can compete in this league."

Samuel believes a big key will be to shake the Redhawks' losing mentality. Another will be to establish a solid quarterback.

Senior Kevin Ballatore enters fall camp as the starting signal caller after suffering through an injury-plagued campaign last year, but Samuel plans to take a good look at junior college transfer Houston Lillard from Oakland, Calif. He was a late signee after throwing for more than 1,800 yards at Raney (Calif.) Community College last season.

The quarterback position also includes sophomore Markus Mosley, who saw some action last year, and redshirt freshman William Cowan.

"We're going in completely open," Samuel said. "He [Ballatore] ended the spring as the No. 1 quarterback, and he'll start the fall at No. 1, but there will be a lot of competition.

"We're going to take a good look at Lillard, see what he can do. We brought him in from junior college for a reason. We want competition there."

On the other end of the predictions spectrum are Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois.

The Colonels, who went 7-4 overall last year -- and a second-place 7-1 in the OVC -- garnered 11 first-place votes and 120 points to narrowly edge out the defending champion Panthers, who tallied the other seven first-place votes and 117 points.

"You can't argue with the two Easterns," Samuel said.

Eastern Kentucky has the OVC's most tradition-rich program, having won 18 conference titles -- although the most recent came in 1997. The Colonels have posted 28 consecutive winning seasons and have not had a losing record since 1972.

Colonels coach Danny Hope said he was a bit surprised his team was picked ahead of Eastern Illinois.

"But it's just a one-day accolade," Hope said. "It won't matter a whole lot at the end of the season."

The Colonels return 16 starters, including quarterback Josh Greco, the 2005 OVC offensive player of the year. Greco passed for 2,861 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.

"We expect big things from Josh," Hope said.

Added Hope of what he expects to be a tight conference race, "I don't see a lot of dropoff from teams picked at the top or bottom. SEMO was picked last and we beat them on the last play of the game [in 2005]."

Eastern Illinois also returns 16 starters from a team that went 8-0 in conference play and 9-3 overall. On the way to the title, the Panthers crushed the Colonels 53-22. Among the Panthers' returnees is linebacker Clint Sellers, the 2005 OVC defensive player of the year.

"I don't put much stock into it," said Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo of the preseason poll. "There are a lot of fine teams and I think it will be the most competitive league in the history of the OVC.

"I like our football team. But we'll have to be better this year because we won't sneak up on anybody. We should be a better football team than last year, but we'll have to be if we're going to be successful."

Jacksonville State, which won five of its final six games to finish 7-4 (6-2 in the OVC), was picked third in the preseason poll with 102 points.

The Gamecocks -- who captured consecutive OVC titles in their first two seasons in the league before settling for third place last year -- return 15 starters but must break in a new quarterback.

"We're a changing team, a team in transition," Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. "We have a long way to go."

Samford (5-6, 4-4) was picked to finish fourth with 75 points, followed by Murray State (2-9, 0-7) with 64 points and Tennessee-Martin (6-5, 4-4) with 46 points. Tennessee Tech (4-7, 3-5) and Tennessee State (2-9, 1-6) tied for seventh with 45 points, just ahead of Southeast.

Matt Griffin takes over Murray State's program after leading Tennessee-Martin to an amazing turnaround. Now he'll try to get the Racers back on track after they had generally been among the OVC's better teams but floundered last year.

"We had a great challenge a few years ago, went into a place that was down and left it better," Griffin said. "We face the same challenge at Murray."