When the Panthers travel to Cookeville, Tenn., to play Tennessee Tech this weekend it will mark the ninth time the two head coaches, Bob Spoo and Mike Hennigan, will meet, making it the longest Ohio Valley Conference coaching rivalry.

In their previous eight meetings, the Panthers are 7-1 against the Golden Eagles.

This is Spoo’s 18th season as head coach of the Panthers and Hennigan’s ninth season as the Golden Eagle’s head coach.

Playing each other eight previous times, it would be easy to think the two coaches know what type of game the other is going to try to play, but it’s not that easy.

“Hennigan’s known to have some special plays,” Spoo said. “Most teams do. We just have to anticipate and hope our players can react.”

In the past it would have been a big help going into the game knowing the opposing coach’s tendencies. Now that’s the case every week, so just because this is the OVC’s longest coaching rivalry, it doesn’t necessarily translate to any extra advantages for either coach.

“We trade game films every week now,” Spoo said. “We have all of their game films, and they have all of ours.”

Regardless of what the coaches say, the coaching rivalry should shine through to make this weekend’s contest an exciting one.