THE LATEST LINE: OTAHKIANS GET OFF TO A BIG START

Gary Garner's Indians aren't the only Southeast Missouri State University basketball team that is opening plenty of early-season eyes around the Ohio Valley Conference.

SEMO's women -- the Otahkians of coach Ed Arnzen -- are fast proving that their struggles of the past two years are only a distant memory.

The Otahkians, who were one of the nation's top Division II teams and also a solid OVC squad after making the move up to Division I, bottomed out the last two seasons.

SEMO won five games two years ago and finished dead last in the OVC, then won eight games last year and placed eighth in the 10-team league.

But already this season, the Otahkians are 7-2, meaning they're within one victory of matching their win total from all of last year. And at 2-0 in the OVC, the team picked eighth in the preseason poll is tied for first place.

With two OVC games at home when play resumes in 1999 -- Jan. 2 against Eastern Kentucky and Jan. 4 against Morehead St. -- the Otahkians have a chance to really stamp themselves as a legitimate conference contender.

Two strong college basketball teams for the fans of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding areas to root for.

It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

* The fact that John Mumford was retained as SEMO's head football coach despite going 10-23 the last three seasons -- including 3-8 this year -- tells me one major thing.

It's obvious that SEMO administrators want the really big decisions inside the athletic department to fall under the guidance of recently-hired athletic director Donald Kaverman, who won't officially begin his duties until Feb. 1.

Mumford himself probably can't help but be a bit surprised that he's still the Indians' coach because he realizes wins and losses generally determine the length of a coach's stay at any school.

And, since for the first time this most recent one-year contract extension contains specific performance goals that need to be met during the 1999 season, Mumford surely realizes he needs to win his share of games -- probably something like six or so -- for he and his staff to remain in Cape past 2000.

As a person who genuinely likes Mumford and his assistants -- they're about as class a group of guys as I've had the pleasure of covering anywhere -- I would love to see the Indians have a big 1999 season.

But as a person who has followed the team the past few seasons -- and realizes that the majority of the squad's better players this year were seniors -- I know that Mumford and his coaches certainly face a tall task.

* While there doesn't appear to be any super-type teams involved, the University High School Christmas Tournament that begins Saturday at the Show Me Center figures to feature its most balanced field in years.

You could probably make a decent case for as many as six -- and possibly more -- teams having a shot at the title.

The top four seeds are Scott City, Jackson, Kelly and Charleston, with Woodland, Cape Central, Scott County Central and Notre Dame the next four.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian