Redhawks' OVC-opening loss no surprise

That the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team lost its Ohio Valley Conference opener at Tennessee-Martin on Saturday night was not really unexpected.

Even though the Skyhawks and Redhawks tied for eighth in the OVC's preseason poll, UTM is widely regarded as an extremely talented, experienced team that quite a few people have touted as a potential darkhorse title contender.

On the other hand, Southeast is an inexperienced squad that still is finding its way as it hopes to challenge for an upper-division conference finish.

In this expanded 20-game OVC schedule, one contest does not make the season, which now more than ever is a marathon instead of a sprint.

However, the Redhawks don't want to dig themselves the kind of hole they found themselves in last year, when they lost their first two OVC games and started the league season 1-4.

Southeast did manage to recover, thanks to a seven-game winning streak, but you sure would hate to have to count on that happening again, because it doesn't occur often. That makes the Redhawks' upcoming two-game homestand -- against Tennessee State Thursday night and Tennessee Tech Saturday night -- mighty important, even though once it's over, there will still be 17 OVC contests remaining.

After this week's games, the Redhawks play six of their next eight OVC contests on the road, including four of the next five.

In a conference that appears to be as strong from top to bottom as it has been in a long time, it's probably not wise to have to fight an uphill battle from virtually the very beginning.

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The Redhawks' primary problem so far has been on the offensive end, which is not all that surprising since they lost their top three scorers from last year.

But it's clear that, if Southeast continues to struggle offensively, it could be a long season.

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While Southeast's men opened their OVC schedule Saturday, the women play their first conference game Thursday when Tennessee State visits the Show Me Center as part of a men's and women's doubleheader.

Another twinbill will follow Saturday when Tennessee Tech comes to Cape Girardeau in what figures to be an extra exciting night of hoops.

Tech's men are the defending OVC regular-season champions, and with plenty of returning talent, are expected to again be major contenders.

The Eagles have perhaps the league's two most impressive nonleague wins so far, blowing out Oregon State and beating Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which made last year's NCAA Sweet 16. They also routed Austin Peay in their OVC opener.

Tech's women are the OVC's preseason favorites -- being picked just ahead of Southeast in voting that certainly did not sit well with the Redhawks.

There is no question that most people expect Southeast and Tech to battle it out for the women's championship, as each returned many of their key players from last year, including arguably the OVC's top two performers in the Redhawks' Tatiana Conceicao and the Eaglettes' Emily Christian.

One game probably won't determine the conference title, but you can bet there will be plenty of intensity on the Show Me Center court when the Redhawks and Eaglettes square off.

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High school basketball fans in the region would be well advised to attend Saturday's second annual Heartland Hoopfest at the Perry Park Center in Perryville.

Brian Roth has put together another impressive eight-game card, featuring several local teams along with a few high-powered squads from outside the area.

The feature game pits St. Louis power Vashon against Indianapolis Arlington. Both teams were nationally ranked last season, and Vashon already has appeared in several of this year's national polls.

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When I saw that former Southeast football star Willie Ponder had been inactive for the Giants' past two games, I figured he had suffered an injury, since he was leading the NFC with a 27-yard kickoff return average, after topping the entire NFL in that department last year.

But I soon discovered that Ponder was basically benched by New York coach Tom Coughlin.

A Gannett Newspapers article suggested that Ponder fell out of favor with the notoriously rigid Coughlin after he lost a fumble on the opening kickoff against the Vikings a few weeks ago.

The article also suggested that Ponder had struggled some with his returns in recent weeks, after getting off to an especially impressive start, including four returns for 191 yards -- and a 95-yard touchdown -- in the season opener.

In any event, here's hoping Ponder returns to the field soon -- perhaps even today, when the Giants face the Cowboys in a battle for first place in the NFC East -- because he was as likable a young man as he was a phenomenal football player when he attended Southeast.

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For the longest time I thought there was no way the Colts would finish the regular season undefeated, and I still don't believe they will, since they have several tough matchups left.

But, with every impressive victory that Indianapolis racks up, the chances of pulling off the improbable get better and better.

Perfect regular season or not, however, it's clear that the Colts are the NFL's best team this year and figure to be the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

Still, the best team doesn't always come out on top, so the Colts will certainly be challenged before they can claim the ultimate prize.

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Talk about an unbelievable story. That doesn't even begin to describe what Rams' rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick did when he came off the bench to lead last Sunday's incredible comeback win over the Texans in his NFL debut.

While the Rams probably have no real chance to make the playoffs, Fitzpatrick certainly injected a shot of life into what had been a pretty lifeless season, save for all the off-field turmoil surrounding St. Louis coach Mike Martz.

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The OVC suffered its normal first-round NCAA Division I-AA playoff loss last weekend as Eastern Illinois fell to Southern Illinois 21-6.

While that result was not nearly as lopsided as the other playoff games involving OVC teams in recent seasons, the conference probably had its best chance in years of gaining a little respect, because the Panthers played at home and the Salukis appeared to be at least a bit vulnerable entering the contest.

But once again the OVC fell short.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.