Expectations have carried over from last year’s basketball season to this year, according to preseason rankings compiled by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors.

Last year, the Murray State Racers finished atop the OVC and took on Illinois in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This year, despite plenty of losses from a crucial senior group, the Racers have been selected to be the class of the conference once again this year.

Eastern, which struggled last year in OVC, was picked to finish in last place within the conference. One thing head coach Rick Samuels attributes to the unfamiliarity that the rest of the conference may have with his team right now.

“We’re one of those teams that people don’t really know what we’re capable of,” Samuels said. “This ranking is based on the fact that we weren’t able to finish off games last year and had a team that was maturing while playing the game.”

Last year the Panthers only had two seniors who had an active part in the team. Between center Jesse Mackinson and forward David Roos, whose season was limited due to an injury, the Panthers didn’t find the excess of leadership they may have at their fingertips this year.

“Right now we have three fifth-year seniors in Emanuel Dildy, Jason Wright and Andy Gobczynski,” Samuels said. “Aaron Patterson, for the first time in his career, will be with the same program for two straight years and that should be a tremendous benefit to him.

“But starting with those returning kids we will have a much more mature basis for a team.”

To those mature players, the Panthers are looking to sprinkle in such fresh faces as red-shirt freshmen Bobby Catchings, and true freshmen Bil Duany and Greg Tandy.

Those players give the Panthers a different type of player because of their length and athleticism, which allows the coaching staff to incorporate a different type of offensive attack along with a revitalized defense.

“This is a more versatile group which makes our game plan more aggressive,” Samuels said. “We will have a deeper team, allowing us to incorporate different things, and when you got guys who are athletically gifted you can change defenses and show different things.”

Looking around at the rest of the conference, Samuels felt that certain teams in the conference will be predictable while others may be more of a mystery at first.

The predicted first place team, Murray State, is a team that is looking to replace players like Chris Shumate and Victor Cuthbert who were senior leaders on the team that went to the NCAA tournament a year ago.

Right now the Racers have six players that are community college transfers on their roster that may help the team this year.

“Murray State lost a lot of people and they have some Division I transfers from prime programs,” Samuels said. “They are perennial contenders for the conference crown and will replace those they lost in positive way this year.”

Besides Murray State, which gathered 19 first place votes, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky also received first place votes.

While it may be too early to tell whether these teams will live up to their preseason rankings, Samuels believes that something can be taken out of the early expectations.

“By the time the conference season rolls around, game tape and statistics allow us to become familiar with the majority of the teams in the OVC,” Samuels said. “There will be some unfamiliarity with the teams who bring in new faces, but, for the most part, we will be prepared by the time conference play begins.”

2004-05 OVC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish

(Selected by Head Basketball Coaches and Sports Information Directors)

– Murray State (19 first-place votes) – 199

– Tennessee State (1 first-place vote) – 166

– Eastern Kentucky (1 first-place vote) – 148

– Tennessee Tech (1 first-place vote) – 137

– Austin Peay – 123

– Tennessee-Martin – 116

– Jacksonville State – 92

– Southeast Missouri – 92

– Morehead State – 52

– Samford – 45

– Eastern Illinois – 40