Southeast teams begin OVC hoops season this week

The stakes will rise considerably this week for both Southeast Missouri State basketball teams.

That's because Ohio Valley Conference play is about to begin.

Southeast's men and women open their OVC schedules with a pair of home games, Thursday against Austin Peay and Saturday against Tennessee State.

The squads enter league play coming off different levels of nonconference success, the women sporting a 3-2 record while the men are 2-4.

But the good thing about conference play is you can wipe the slates clean. It offers newfound hope for all.

Southeast's men figure to have the most difficult opening challenges.

Austin Peay is the two-time defending OVC regular-season champion, while Tennessee State reached last year's OVC tournament title game and is regarded among the league's more talented squads.

On the women's side, Austin Peay finished next-to-last in the OVC a year ago and is not expected to be a factor this season, although Tennessee State has improved and could be a contender.

After these two contests, there are no more OVC games until January, so although not imperative, it wouldn't hurt to get out of the gates fast.

We'll see how things play out this week.

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The 2-4 record for Southeast men really isn't disappointing or surprising, because it's probably what many people -- myself included -- expected.

Losses at major-conference opponents Kansas State, Iowa and New Mexico were not surprising. Win any of those games and it's a major upset.

I assumed the Redhawks would rout NAIA Culver-Stockon, which they did, and then I thought they'd have a chance to go 1-1 in Las Vegas over the weekend.

That's what happened as the Redhawks beat second-year Division I program Longwood and lost to a solid Oakland squad.

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This weekend looks to be an exciting one at Southeast because it's Hall of Fame weekend.

Six individuals and the 1990-91 women's basketball team that finished second in the nation make up the university's 2008 Hall of Fame inductees.

Southeast's seventh Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Friday night at the Show Me Center.

Individuals inducted will be Joey Haines, Jim Lohr, Doug Berg, Kerry Robinson, Rick Wadlington and Jack Behrens.

Haines retired this year as Southeast's track and field coach. He won the OVC coach of the year award 20 times.

Lohr was the Division II indoor and outdoor high jump champion in 1985.

Berg was a Division I-AA All-American football player in 1994 and 1995.

Robinson spent parts of seven seasons in major league baseball between 1998 and 2006, including three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Wadlington was a Division II track All-American in 1970 and 1971 who still holds the Southeast outdoor shot put record.

Behrens hit the game-winning shot in the 1943 NAIA national championship basketball game.

The 1990-91 women's basketball team hosted the Division II Final Four at the Show Me Center, winning in the semifinals before losing to North Dakota State in front of a Show Me Center women's record crowd of 7,064.

Ed Arnzen was the head coach of that squad, with Alicia Scott and Jill Pizzotti his assistants, along with volunteer assistant Chris Janet.

Team members included Anne (Cate) Dohogne, Jennifer Cavaness, Sandy (File) Fletcher, Gwen Fitzpatrick, Stephanie (Holland) Lewis, Deana Jackson, Janet (Miller) Varnon, Sherry Mitchell, Alison (Morris) Hermann, Jody (Pugh) Mills, Renee (Rogliardi) Reed, Sarita (Wesley) Scott and Jerri Wiley.

Friday's festivities at the Show Me Center will include a reception at 6 p.m. and a dinner at 7 p.m., with the inductions to follow.

The inductees also will be introduced at halftime of Saturday's game against Tennessee State.

This year's inductees will increase the number of individuals to 55 and the number of teams to 11 since Southeast began its Hall of Fame in 2002.

Anybody can attend the induction ceremony, with tickets priced at $25. They can be purchased at the athletic ticket office in Houck Field House.

I've been to every induction ceremony and always have a great time. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest round of inductees, many of whom I covered while at Southeast and some of whom I became good friends with.

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As is always the case, OVC basketball teams have had varying degrees of success during nonconference play.

But no squad has been a bigger surprise than Jacksonville State under first-year coach James Green.

The Gamecocks were picked last in the OVC preseason poll after occupying the basement a year ago.

JSU is 4-1, including a big upset win at Massachusetts and Saturday's 95-67 rout of VMI, which is averaging more than 100 points per game and claimed a victory over Kentucky.

So maybe the Gamecocks will be a surprise OVC contender this year, which is what Southeast fans are hoping for from the Redhawks.

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Another year, another playoff loss for OVC football.

A current OVC member has not won a playoff game since 1996 -- and that trend continued Saturday.

Eastern Kentucky's 38-10 defeat at Richmond on Saturday marked the OVC's 15th straight playoff setback by a current league member since that 1996 season.

Of those 15 losses, only two have been by single digits -- both by six points.

And the OVC wonders why it only received one playoff berth this year, after getting two each of the previous two seasons.

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It really wasn't an upset because both teams were ranked among the nation's top 10, but SIU football is out of the playoffs after Saturday's 29-20 home loss to New Hampshire.

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Although it didn't affect their status as the Big 12 Conference North Division champions, the Missouri Tigers lost 40-37 to arch-rival Kansas on Saturday.

But, the tough-to-take nature of the defeat aside, it was quite a game with a sensational finish as the teams traded leads in the final minutes.

Now the Tigers will try to bounce back in Saturday's Big 12 championship game, which they'll enter as a big underdog.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.