Looking back on history as Redhawks look to make more

Southeast Missouri State is going dancing for the first time in 23 years, beginning on Tuesday night with a matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Dayton, Ohio.

Much has changed over those 23 years, including a full-fledged mascot change taking place back in 2004.

In reality, this is the first time the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks have made the tournament, and it’s been a long road to this point with many ups and downs along the way.

Thursday, March 16 marks 23 years to the day that Southeast Missouri State matched up against the Louisiana State University Tigers in Salt Lake City in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament.

That season, the then-Indians finished with a record of 24-7. Since that season, Southeast Missouri State hasn’t even sniffed 20 wins in a season, with this season’s current total of 19 standing as the highest win total since that 1999-2000 season.

Southeast Missouri State entered the matchup with a 13 seed in the tournament, proving to be one of the best automatic-qualifying teams of the season after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament against Murray State and setting itself up with a matchup against fourth-seeded LSU in the West Regional.

LSU took the matchup in the end, but the Indians put up a serious fight that came to a close following a critical Tigers 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds to go, giving the Tigers a 64-61 edge that helped them move on to the second round and eventually the Sweet 16.

"They're definitely a team that could win the national championship," then-head coach Gary Garner said at the time. "They could have had a two or three but there were a lot of teams in that range. And they were playing extremely well at the end of the season and that's why I'm surprised (that they weren't seeded higher)."

The greatest season in Southeast Missouri State’s 32-season Division I history came to a crashing end on a game-winning shot inside the last minute from a Southeastern Conference powerhouse.

Does that sound familiar at all? It should. If the 2022-2023 Redhawks are to make it out of the First Four on Tuesday, they will face the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Redhawks are members of a large pool of teams that have appeared in the NCAA Tournament but have never won a game. With a win in Dayton on Tuesday, the Redhawks have a chance to leave that group and leave their mark on tournament history.

All sights are on Tuesday as the Southland Conference’s Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders match up against a streaking SEMO.