Men’s basketball seedings for the Ohio Valley Tournament are getting down to the wire and the fate of the Panthers rest in their own hands.

It all begins tonight at Southeast Missouri where Eastern will visit the worst team in the league. The Otahkians sit at the bottom of the barrel tied with Eastern Kentucky with 3-11 records and this is a must-win for Southeast Missouri, who risks being the lone team eliminated from the tournament.

But the Panthers, on the other hand, face a must-win or risk taking a road trip next Tuesday for the first round of the OVC tournament.

That would not be the best situation for the Panthers.

Eastern is 2-5 on the road against conference opponents, and opening the first round on the road is certainly not the Panthers’ best option. As of Tuesday morning, the Panthers would have to travel to Morehead State for the first round – possibly the farthest opponent Eastern could face in the OVC.

Here’s the situation. Tennessee State lost to Tennessee Tech Monday night, dropping to 7-8, one game behind the Panthers. Austin Peay lost to Morehead Monday night, dropping to 7-8 as well.

Tennessee State travels to Eastern Thursday while Austin Peay hosts Southeast Missouri. Eastern must defeat Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech Saturday to secure a hosting position in the tournament.

Eastern hasn’t had a streak since its three-game losing streak on the road last week and hasn’t had a winning streak since its five-game streak in the middle of January. It’s been a while.

But this is no time for the team to be looking back. The Panthers need to win tonight at Southeast Missouri and take that momentum back to Lantz Arena and rebuild its winning streak. Two wins would help that situation.

Tennessee Tech is beatable. Murray State found a way to do it, and now it’s Eastern’s turn to figure it out.

Sure, Eastern needs to take it one game at a time, but these three games are crucial. No one wants to be on the road once first round games open next week – especially Eastern.