SCHEDULING FOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL IS A DIFFICULT CHORE

As we prepare for a four-game road swing that includes one non-conference game, I would like to try and explain just how hard scheduling is.

I don't like the idea of playing Morris Brown in Atlanta Monday night, but we needed games and a home-and-away contract with Morris Brown, a new Division I school, helped us finish our schedule. I never like to play a non-conference road game during the conference season, but we were forced to this year.

Putting together a schedule is very complex. You start with the Ohio Valley Conference schedule that is prepared by the league. We have no control over the OVC schedule; it is prepared and distributed by the conference and then we schedule our non-conference games around that OVC schedule.

I've had people ask me why we have both Murray State games this season on Thursday nights. We would certainly prefer to play a rival like Murray State on Saturday, but we have no control over the OVC schedule.

Once we know the OVC schedule (about a year in advance), we start to schedule the other games. It usually takes a month to two months of calling back and forth with a school in order to find dates that work for both schools.

When I came to Southeast, I said I would like to develop a schedule that included schools like Southern Illinois, Southwest Missouri, Arkansas State, Evansville and St. Louis University. We have played these schools except Evansville and St. Louis since I've been here, but it is difficult to continue the various series.

We are in contact with all these schools concerning next season, but as of today, only Southern Illinois has indicated they will play us next season.

When you have success like we have enjoyed the past couple of seasons, scheduling becomes even harder. We had several schools that indicated they would play us this season, but when we won our league and went to the NCAA Tournament last year, they backed out. The result is a road game with Morris Brown Monday night.

Tennessee-Martin's win over Austin Peay Monday night certainly opens up the OVC race. I keep saying there are a lot of games left to be played. Losing two games at the Show Me Center has hurt us, but we still have a chance to stay in the regular-season race if we can pick up some wins on the road.

Saturday night we play Eastern Illinois in Charleston. The Panthers have an excellent team, with two of the top players and scorers in the nation. Henry Domercant, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, is the second-leading scorer in the nation and is putting up some sensational statistics.

I don't ever remember going against a player that averages 25 points per game, shoots 55 percent from the field, 51 percent from 3-point range and who pulls down over seven rebounds per game. He is having a phenomenal season.

And he isn't the only weapon EIU touts. The Panthers also have Kyle Hill, a 6-2 senior who is seventh in the nation in scoring with an average of 23 points per game. He is recognized as one of the best shooters in the OVC.

The Panthers also have point guard Matt Britton, who is averaging 13 points per game, and a couple of big guys who just set picks all over the floor.

EIU is the top scoring team in the OVC but we are the top defensive team in the league and we have to find a way to slow them down. The game will have to be in the 60s for us to have a chance to pull the upset.

We've been successful at EIU the last three years and we have won six straight games in the series. We have to draw on that experience and we have to have a great effort to derail the Panthers. It should be quite a game.

Gary Garner is the head basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University