Redhawks will be big underdog in season opener

Another Southeast Missouri State football season kicks off Thursday night when the Redhawks visit Central Michigan.

The Redhawks will be big underdogs as they step up in class to face the Football Bowl Subdivision program.

But Southeast should have a much better chance of competing against a Mid-American Conference team that went 3-9 last year than it would facing a squad from a BCS conference.

And Southeast still is getting a nice paycheck of $300,000, which goes toward the university's general athletic department revenue.

A Football Championship Subdivision program like Southeast usually doesn't get much more money than that from a BCS conference school that the Redhawks generally have no shot against.

A case in point is last season, when Southeast received a school-record $315,000 from the Big 10's Purdue and got crushed 59-0.

Two years ago, during their historic 2010 campaign, the Redhawks got $275,000 from Mid-American Conference member Ball State and were competitive during a 27-10 loss.

Southeast's 2013 money game will be against the SEC's Mississippi, which will pay the Redhawks $375,000.

By the way, Southeast is 1-16 all-time against FBS opponents, the lone victory coming in 2002 at Middle Tennessee State.

The Redhawks have been outscored 330-26 in their past six FBS matchups. Five of the six were monumental mismatches, the lone exception being the Ball State contest.

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All nine OVC football teams play their first games this week, including two squads visiting ranked FBS programs.

Jacksonville State takes a trip to Arkansas, while Murray State travels to Florida State. Those matchups highlight six openers that have OVC teams visiting FBS squads.

Other OVC clubs playing up in class to start the season, in addition to Southeast, are Eastern Kentucky (at Purdue), Tennessee-Martin (at Memphis) and Austin Peay (at Western Kentucky).

Elsewhere around the league, Eastern Illinois hosts Southern Illinois, Tennessee Tech hosts Hampton and Tennessee State entertains Florida A&M.

Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech join Southeast in kicking off the season Thursday. The rest of the OVC squads open Saturday.

And talk about being virtually guaranteed to start out 0-2. Austin Peay (ranked Virginia Tech) and Tennessee-Martin (Northern Illinois) both begin the season visiting two FBS opponents.

Jacksonville State also plays a second FBS team, traveling to Florida in the final week of the regular season.

Every OVC squad except Tennessee State plays at least one FBS opponent. Eastern Illinois visits Western Michigan next week, while Tennessee Tech travels to ranked Oregon in week three.

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It's looking more and more likely that the Southeast men's basketball team will be without freshman point guard C.J. Reese for at least the first semester.

Reese still has not been approved academically by the NCAA Clearinghouse and can't attend Southeast on an athletic scholarship until he is cleared.

I've been told it's not looking good for Reese to be cleared, although there is still an outside chance that could happen. Southeast coach Dickey Nutt should find out soon.

Even if Reese isn't cleared to immediately play for Southeast, he should become eligible after the first semester that ends Dec. 14.

Reese, who played high school basketball in Chattanooga, Tenn., is the most touted among Southeast's three freshmen for this season.

Reese was expected to play key minutes backing up Lucas Nutt.

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Former Southeast stars Shae Simmons and Trenton Moses are continuing their impressive debut professional baseball seasons with the Advanced Rookie level Danville Braves.

Simmons, a Scott City High School graduate drafted by Atlanta in the 22nd round, especially has turned heads.

Simmons is averaging more than two strikeouts per inning. He has fanned 21, walked eight and allowed 11 hits over 10 1/3 innings, all out of the bullpen. He is 0-2 with two saves and a 3.48 ERA.

That came after Simmons did not allow an earned run in 14 1/3 innings with the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Braves before being promoted. He was 2-0 with 15 strikeouts.

Moses, a third baseman from Advance High School drafted by Atlanta in the 26th round, is batting .291 (37 for 127) with three home runs, 10 doubles, 18 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

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I was saddened by last week's passing of Mary Hines, the wife of former longtime Southeast sports information director Ron Hines.

Mary, who lost a battle with cancer, was a fixture assisting her husband at Southeast athletic events during the many years Ron worked for the university.

I got to know Mary well over the years. She was a classy lady and will be sorely missed.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.