Southeast women climb back into race

When the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team lost at Eastern Illinois on Jan. 5, the Redhawks were 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, 6-7 overall -- and their fans were wondering if this highly anticipated season was going to be a bust.

With half of the OVC schedule yet to be played, there is no telling how the campaign will turn out for Southeast.

But the Redhawks' obituary has been canceled, courtesy of a season-high four-game winning streak that was punctuated by Saturday night's 53-46 triumph at first-place Tennessee Tech.

To simply say that the victory over the Eaglettes -- who rarely lose at home -- was big would be a major understatement.

It was huge, because it basically saved -- at least for now -- the Redhawks' regular season.

A defeat for the Redhawks would have realistically eliminated them from contention for the OVC regular-season title, since it would have dropped them three games behind the Eaglettes.

That would have meant, even if Southeast won its last 10 OVC games, Tennessee Tech would have had to lose three of its final 10 simply for the Redhawks to tie for the championship. The likelihood of both those things happening would not have been all that great.

Now, however, the Redhawks (10-7, 7-3 OVC) have solidified their hold on third place in the 11-team league, while moving to within one game of first place (Tennessee Tech and Samford are tied for the top spot).

The OVC race figures to go down to the wire, with Southeast now looking like it will be involved for the long haul.

And the Redhawks' life support machine is no longer needed.

n

While Southeast's women have finally gotten their act together, the men can only hope a favorable home schedule the rest of the way will help them simply squeeze into the eight-team conference tournament.

After losing both legs on their road trip to Tennessee, including Saturday's defeat at Tennessee Tech, the Redhawks (6-11, 3-8) find themselves with a four-game losing streak and floundering toward the bottom of the standings.

If the season ended today, Southeast would not qualify for the OVC tournament.

With nine conference games left -- including six at home, after Southeast played seven of its first 11 league contests on the road -- the Redhawks on paper have an opportunity to close strong and make the postseason party.

But nothing less than a robust finish will probably be good enough to get in.

n

He isn't a great player -- far from it -- but simply as a person, you've got to feel really bad for Eric Burtin, Southeast's junior guard who suffered a season-ending fractured leg late in Thursday's loss at Tennessee State.

By all accounts, Eric is a super young man, and he was getting better and better during his first season with the Redhawks after transferring from junior college.

The good news is that the surgery late Thursday night in Nashville went well and Eric should make a full recovery, meaning he will likely be a valuable role player next season when the Redhawks -- bolstered by high-profile transfers Brandon Foust and Mike Rembert, along with the return of injured David Johnson and others -- hopefully begin their climb back up the OVC standings.

n

And then there were four.

That's where the NFL playoffs are right now after last weekend's second-round games leading into today's conference championship matchups.

The Jan. 14 contests were both decided by double-figure margins and featured wins by the home teams, while the Jan. 15 affairs both went to the wire and featured victories by the road squads.

Seattle posted something of a workmanlike 20-10 win over Washington on Jan. 14, while Denver capitalized on New England's mistakes to eliminate the two-time defending Super Bowl champion 27-13.

From a fan's standpoint, things got much better the next day.

First, Pittsburgh built a big lead and held off heavily favored Indianapolis 21-18. Then Carolina also took control early and ended Chicago's surprise season 29-21.

Both the Steelers and Panthers have the unusual distinction of each winning two road games to get this far, and they'll each try to make it three in a row today, when Denver hosts Pittsburgh for the AFC championship and Carolina visits Seattle for NFC supremacy.

n

A few more thoughts on last weekend's NFL games:

The Colts continue to be a bust in the playoffs. This really looked like their season to finally go all the way, especially since old nemesis New England was no longer around. But the Steelers dominated Indianapolis, which was really lucky to even have a shot at the end.

Jerome Bettis had to be the happiest person in America after the Colts missed the late field goal that would have tied the game. It was Bettis, Pittsburgh's classy running back, who uncharacteristically fumbled near the goal line to give Indy one more shot.

Has a quarterback ever made a better -- or more important -- tackle than Ben Roethlisberger did in stopping Nick Harper from scoring a likely touchdown on the return after the Bettis fumble?

I doubt it.

Roethlisberger basically saved the Steelers' season by tripping up Harper in the open field at the Colts' 45-yard line. That led to the field-goal attempt that wasn't even close.

Finally, we can only hope the officiating is better today than it was last weekend. There were so many botched calls -- or non-calls -- it was truly pathetic.

Thankfully, perhaps one of the worst rulings in the history of the NFL -- the overturned interception by the Steelers late in the fourth quarter against the Colts -- did not cost Pittsburgh its deserved victory. That would have been a real crime.

n

Southeast often toots its horn -- and deservedly so -- because NFL head coach Jon Gruden, who has a Super Bowl victory to his credit, spent some time at the university as a young assistant coach.

But when it comes to OVC products in the NFL, Eastern Illinois has everybody beat -- and by a wide margin. The Panthers also take a back seat to no school across the country.

Stunningly, EIU has three alumni -- not just men who coached there, but guys who actually graduated from the university -- in the NFL head coaching ranks.

Sean Payton (class of 1987) was just hired by New Orleans. He joins Denver's Mike Shanahan (1974) and recent Minnesota hire Brad Childress (1988).

Payton was an All-American quarterback for the Panthers and still holds the EIU record for career passing yards (10,655), along with 11 single-game, season and career passing marks.

Shanahan was also a quarterback at EIU, but an early injury shortened his collegiate career. He was the offensive coordinator for the Panthers when they won the NCAA Division II national championship in 1978.

Childress never played college athletics.

Only two other schools can match EIU in having NFL head coaches among their alumni. USC also has three (Mike Holmgren, Seattle; Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville; Jeff Fisher, Tennessee), as does San Diego State (John Fox, Carolina; Joe Gibbs, Washington; Herm Edwards, formerly of the New York Jets, now of Kansas City).

n

I don't consider myself to be a big University of Missouri basketball fan these days, but last Monday's game between the Tigers and visiting Kansas certainly ranks as an instant classic in a series that has been full of them.

It's hard to imagine a more exciting contest -- or one full of so many twists and turns -- than the one that resulted in a 89-86 overtime victory for the Tigers.

Trailing by nine points with less than 2 minutes left in regulation, and by seven points with less than 40 seconds to play, the Tigers nonetheless waged a stirring comeback, thanks partly to several missed Kansas free throws and partly to amazing shooting by Mizzou's Thomas Gardner.

Gardner, one of the nation's most improved players, is having a sensational season as he leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring. He was never better than against Kansas, when he poured in 40 points and drained shots from virtually all over the court.

Of course, Gardner's heroics -- and those of other Tigers -- wouldn't have mattered very much had the Jayhawks' Christian Moody not missed two free throws with less than a second left in regulation to keep the score tied.

But that's another example of why sports are so great, and why people like me love them so much -- there is no script, and you just never know what will happen next.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.