INDIANS GET ANOTHER SHOT AT GOVS

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner ended his post-game radio show Saturday night not yet knowing for sure who the Indians would be playing in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

But just a few minutes later, when word came that Austin Peay was being blown out by Tennessee State in the late going, Garner had a pretty good idea that the Indians would travel to Clarksville, Tenn., for Tuesday night's start of the OVC tournament.

Austin Peay's resounding 83-60 loss at Tennessee State relegated the Governors to fourth place in the final OVC standings and to the No. 4 seed in the league tourney.

No. 5 seed Southeast, which closed the regular season with five straight wins after holding off Morehead State 63-61 Saturday at the Show Me Center, will square off with the Govs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Had Austin Peay beaten Tennessee State, then the Indians would have traveled to Murray State for the start of the conference tourney.

Either way, the Indians would have faced a team that it lost to twice during the regular season. Granted, Austin Peay was more impressive than Murray State against Southeast -- the Govs romped 88-60 on Jan. 6 in Clarksville and prevailed 77-72 on Feb. 1 in Cape Girardeau -- but Garner knows it would be a big challenge no matter who his team faced.

"Going to Austin Peay or Murray State, either one would have been a tremendous challenge for us," Garner said. "Austin Peay has an outstanding basketball team. I don't think there's any question they are the most talented team in the conference.

"But now it's like starting over. Everybody gets a second chance once the tournament begins."

Women open at home

Unlike Southeast's men, the Southeast women will be playing at home when the OVC tourney begins Tuesday night -- and against a team that it has already soundly beaten twice.

But coach Ed Arnzen knows his fourth-seeded Otahkians will have their hands full when fifth-seeded Tennessee-Martin visits the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Skyhawks should be riding high after handing regular-season champion Tennessee Tech its first conference loss of the season Saturday.

"They'll be coming in here with a lot of confidence after beating Tech," said Arnzen, whose team defeated the Skyhawks 79-66 at home and 80-67 on the road. "Just because we beat them twice already, that really doesn't mean anything.

"It's a new season now, but we're happy to be starting the tournament with a home game."

All of Tuesday's first-round winners advance to Nashville, Tenn., for Friday's semifinals. The championship games will be Saturday, with those winners qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

Following is a look at how the men's and women's brackets shape up:

Balanced men's field

Regular-season champion Tennessee Tech (19-8 overall, 13-3 OVC) will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed after being by far the league's biggest surprise.

Picked fourth in the preseason poll, the Eagles captured their first OVC title in 16 years as they outdistanced the field by two games.

Eastern Illinois (18-9, 11-5) and Murray State (16-11, 11-5) deadlocked for second, with Eastern Illinois gaining the No. 2 seed based on a tie-breaker.

Heavy preseason favorite Austin Peay (20-9, 10-6) finished fourth, followed by Southeast (18-11, 8-8), Tennessee State (10-18, 7-9), Morehead State (12-15, 6-10) and Tennessee-Martin (10-17, 5-11). Last-place Eastern Kentucky did not qualify for the tourney.

In addition to Austin Peay hosting Southeast, Tuesday's other first-round pairings consist of Tennessee-Martin at Tennessee Tech, Morehead State at Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State at Murray State.

Based on the regular season it had, Garner believes Tennessee Tech definitely ranks as the tournament favorite. But most coaches seem to believe that things are wide open, particularly once the four first-round winners head to Nashville.

"If you're going to pick a favorite, then I think you have to say Tennessee Tech because they had a great season and they're apparently really playing well," Garner said. "But I sure wouldn't want to bet on anybody because it's wide open.

"The four teams that get to Nashville, I think any of them can win it. Even any of the bottom four, if you're good enough to go to one of the top four and win, then you're good enough to go to Nashville and win it all."

Eaglettes powerful

Tennesseee Tech (22-5, 15-1) won its 14th regular-season title and the Golden Eaglettes looked invincible until being upset by Tennessee-Martin Saturday.

While the Eaglettes still rank as solid favorites, that result might have at least given the other tournament teams some hope.

Runner-up Eastern Kentucky (22-5, 14-2) was the OVC's other dominant squad this year; the Lady Colonels' only two conference losses came at the hands of Tennessee Tech.

Austin Peay (14-13, 10-6) finished third, with Southeast (14-12, 9-7) fourth.

After the top four, there was a pretty big dropoff. Tennessee-Martin (12-15, 6-10) wound up fifth, then there was a three-way tie for sixth between Morehead State (9-18, 5-11), Tennessee State (8-18, 5-11) and Murray State (7-20, 5-11). Last-place Eastern Illinois did not make the tourney field.

Based on tie-breakers, Murray State was seeded sixth, with Morehead State seventh and Tennessee State eighth.

While Southeast hosts Tennessee-Martin Tuesday, other opening-round games feature Tennessee State at Tennessee Tech, Morehead State at Eastern Kentucky and Murray State at Austin Peay.

In assessing the field, Arnzen said, "Tennessee Tech has an outstanding ballclub. Until they lost at Martin, they really dominated the league and they are definitely the favorites.

"Eastern Kentucky also had a really good season. I think after that, a lot of the teams are fairly even. But in a tournament, anything can happen. It's a new season and everybody has a chance."