Saying the Ohio Valley Conference is a respectable mid-major is a stretch.

It’s more like a low mid-major.

In all the sports in the Ohio Valley Conference, one common theme all head coaches at every member school have stressed is the importance of conference play.

“We must do well in OVC play” or “Conference is the time it matters” or “We’ll step it up once conference play” starts are all words heard by members of the media who cover OVC sports.

But why?

Why not “step it up” or “make it count” when a team isn’t in conference play?

Samford men’s basketball head coach Jimmy Tillette was about the only OVC coach to admit the league was down this past season.

“If you look at games outside the conference, the quality wins are not there,” Tillette said Jan. 22.

It was evident in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, where league representative Eastern Kentucky drew a No. 16 seed.

Way to represent the mid-major label by being seeded as one of the worst teams in the 65-team field.

Men’s and women’s basketball in the OVC plays a ridiculously long conference schedule (20 games) so most of the focus should be placed on the OVC race.

But this doesn’t mean schedule easy wins against NAIA schools (Eastern 64, Indiana South Bend 49 or Samford 83, Tennessee Temple 59 in men’s basketball this year).

Eastern baseball was picked by Baseball America to win the OVC this year.

But the Panthers have struggled on their way to a 7-11 start, but wait – they’ve won two of their first three OVC games.

Which, in a strategic sense, is a smart move.

Only one team from the league will make the NCAA baseball tournament, and that’s whoever wins the league tournament.

With only the top six teams making the OVC Tournament, every conference game takes on a magnitude of 100 times more importance than a non-conference game.

But if that’s so, why even play the non-conference games?

Yes, experience and preparation for sacred conference season are reasons, but teams just can’t click it on and off for conference games.

It brings inconsistent performances and hinders OVC schools’ chances to have more teams play on a national stage in postseason tournaments.

In women’s soccer, the Panthers have compiled a 5-13-1 non-conference record the last two years.

But wait, conference play is a different season: at least it has been in Tim Nowak’s first two years as Eastern’s head coach.

His teams are 10-2-6 in OVC play, finishing in the top three of the conference the last two years.

Eastern softball is off to a rough 10-15 start. The Panthers have played tough competition this year, traveling out to California during spring break, compiling a 2-4 record while there.

All this tough non-conference play is designed to help the team once conference play starts.

But the 1-5 OVC mark Eastern has so far does not show that.

In OVC softball this year, Tennessee Tech is the dominant team and it seems it will be a fight for whoever finishes second.

In a league such as the OVC, which will only qualify one team for postseason play in each sport the majority of the time, league play is crucial.

For the league to grow and expand on a national scale, though, teams need to start treating non-conference play more seriously.

-To check out more of Daniels’ thoughts, click here.