Let’s make one thing very clear: The Ohio Valley Conference on the men’s side is not what it once was. Of the seven schools with the most tournament championships, six are no longer in  the conference. That includes Murray State, who left the OVC for the Missouri Valley after over 70 years in YEAR. The Racers have the most Ohio Valley championships of all time at 18 and were arguably  the conference’s most well-known team, especially after now-Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant became a March legend after lighting up  the 2019 NCAA Tournament: 

That doesn’t mean the tournament will be boring; in fact, it’s likely to be  far from it. Only No. 7 seed Morehead State has more than two tournament championships, which means the top dogs this year are going to be fighting for some school novelty. Aside from tournament-ineligible Lindenwood, three schools in this year’s bracket have never won the OVC, including SIUE, Little Rock and UT-Martin. 

The men’s tournament bracket is set up the same way as the women’s, giving the top regular season teams a strong advantage over weaker-seeded teams by advancing them immediately to the semifinals. 

The conference’s slogan, “You’ve gotta OVC (see) it,” could be a rallying cry for the multitude of teams that haven’t seen a ton of success in the Ohio Valley conference tournament. Let’s meet the teams chasing a spot in the dance, which will likely come as a 16-seed.

The Jugular: No. 1 Southeast Missouri

The Redhawks are one of the few teams left that have recent Ohio Valley tournament success. SEMO won the tourney in 2023 ; the Redhawks captured a No. 16 seed, but they fell to  Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the First Four.

This year, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects the squad to win the tournament for the second time in three years and has it in the play-in once again. Historically speaking, the Redhawks have made it at least to the Round of 64; back in 2000 they were a No. 13 seed and lost a heartbreaker to No. 4 seed LSU.

On the court, SEMO’s engine is junior point guard Rob Martin, who stands at a diminutive 5-foot-10, 170 pounds. He leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game and the entire conference in assists at 4.6 per game. Behind his elite distribution skills, SEMO is second in the conference in scoring and leads in scoring margin, scoring almost eight more points per game than its opponents. 

If there is a flaw with this team, it’s rebounding: SEMO grabs the fewest boards in the conference, but also allows the second-fewest rebounds against. They play slow, and generally rely on efficiency instead of crashing the glass.

The Challenger: No. 2 SIUE

Since becoming eligible in 2010-11, SIUE has never made the NCAA Tournament. 

Ray’Sean Taylor, who scores the most points per game in the entire Ohio Valley and won the conference’s Player of the Year award, is looking to rewrite that sentence by next week. Taylor scores over 20 points a night for the Cougars, who are top-5 in the conference on both sides of the basketball. Taylor isn’t a one-man band, though. Junior forward Ring Malith stands at 6’9 and gobbles up the second-most rebounds in the conference at 7.8 per game. 

The Cougars are simply a solid basketball team in all facets. They rank in the top half of the league in field goal percentage, 3-point shooting, defense and turnovers. If Taylor can get going, this will be a tough team to beat.

The Polar Opposites: Tennessee State and Little Rock

No. 3 Tennessee State

If you enjoy a high-paced offensive shootout, try to find the Tigers on your TV this March. Tennessee State leads  the Ohio Valley in scoring, but don’t just look at the defensive numbers, where it ranks eighth. Of all the teams entering the Ohio Valley tournament, it enters as the hottest, winning its final two regular season games over lowly Morehead State and Southern Indiana.

What’s even more impressive is that the Tigers haven’t had anybody average over 14 points per game during conference play. Brandon Weston leads the team at that mark, but he’s been hampered by injuries for some of the season. Justus Jackson dishes out the team’s most assists and is third in the conference in assist to turnover ratio. Aaron Nkrumah adds 11 points and 5 rebounds per game as well.

Watching Tennessee State could be highly entertaining; just don’t expect much containment on the defensive end of the floor.

No. 4 Little Rock

Now that all the offense enjoyers have closed this preview and found the Tigers on their TVs, I should be able to preach to the choir about how great Little Rock’s defense is. 

It’s arguable that the Trojans are the second-best team in this tournament. They trail only SEMO in scoring margin and lead the conference in almost every defensive stat imaginable. Seriously, here’s a list where Little Rock is the first name: Points per game allowed, field goal percentage allowed, blocks and steals. The Trojans are also third in 3-point percentage allowed.

It’s not that Little Rock can’t score, but the style it plays with lends itself to lower-scoring games. The Trojans are still second in the Ohio Valley in 3-point percentage, third in field goal percentage and third in turnover margin. They can be efficient when they need to be.

On the road in Evansville, the Trojans should also feel right at home, as they are tied with SEMO for the conference’s best road record at 7-3. That is worth something at this time of year. They have also beaten both SEMO and SIUE, showing they have the goods to hang with the top dogs as they search for their first Ohio Valley tournament championship.

The Rest of the Pack: Tennessee Tech, Lindenwood and Morehead State

These three teams are all sides of the same triangle. They all finished the season 10-10 in conference play and with negative scoring differentials. Morehead State is the traditional power, winning the conference championship last season for the sixth time. Tennessee Tech’s last appearance in the dance was in 1967, and Lindenwood is still ineligible for the tourney, as it completes its three year transition period to NCAA’s Division I. 

All three also rank in the middle of the pack in scoring and rebounding. One player to watch for is Tech’s Jaylon Johnson, who finished conference play seventh in scoring at 15.8 points per game and second in assists at 4.5 per game. 

Predictions

I’m always a sucker for teams who haven’t made it to March Madness before, so I’ll go with the SIUE taking a nail-biter over SEMO to punch its ticket for the first time.