10. The Feb. 3 Eastern men’s basketball game drew 3,194 people to Lantz Arena.

Whether it was to watch Ohio Valley Conference foes Samford and Eastern play, or to be a part of a nationally televised game is unclear.

Samford defeated Eastern 53-48, but ESPN2 televised the game, the first time an ESPN Network televised a game from Lantz Arena. ESPNU also televised the Feb. 13 men’s game against Southeast Missouri and the Feb. 17 women’s game against Tennessee-Martin.

9. The women’s rugby team continued its domination again this school year, compiling a 9-1 record.

Its lone loss, 27-12 against Texas A&M in the Panthers’ last game, ended Eastern’s 14-game winning streak dating back to the 2005 season.

Seven school records were tied or broken this year and Eastern outscored its opponents 652-42, including a school-record 124-0 win against Michigan State on Sept. 16.

8. A year ago, both tennis teams didn’t qualify for postseason play.

This year, the men were back in the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2004, while the women advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2003. On the women’s side, junior Sandra Sasidharan (19-2 at No. 1 singles) and sophomore Natalie Martin (20-2 at No. 2 singles) shined in singles play. Senior Chuck Levaque earned his fourth all-OVC selection after going 13-6 at No. 1 singles.

7. Erik Huber always could hit the ball. But he never had the power numbers to go with it.

This year, that changed.

Huber, not only Eastern’s best hitter, but also the best hitter in the OVC and as of April 22, the third-best hitter in the nation. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound first baseman had a 21-game hitting streak end this year, but a hamstring injury has hindered Huber for most of April.

6. Freshmen in almost every Eastern sport made a significant contribution in their first year on the field, court or course.

Romain Martin (men’s basketball), Jessica Huffman (women’s basketball), Erin O’Grady (women’s cross country) and Hayley Homburg (women’s tennis) all won OVC freshman of the year accolades.

Martin led the Panthers in scoring (14.8 points), while Huffman finished second on the team (16.9 ppg). O’Grady finished 13th at the OVC Championships, while Homburg posted a 15-6 record at No. 5 singles.

5. Clint Sellers ran down the field with his same aggressive nature Panther football fans were used to seeing in the 2005 season.

Only this time, after laying a hit on Illinois’ E.B. Halsey on Eastern’s season-opening kickoff, Sellers didn’t get up.

The senior linebacker and 2005 OVC defensive player of the year eventually did get up. But once he walked off the Memorial Stadium field on Sept. 1, it would be the last time Sellers would ever set foot on the field in full football gear.

Sellers, who suffered a separated brachial plexus bundle in his right shoulder, is now living in Chicago and trying to get past the devastating injury.

He is scheduled to have an Aug. 8 appointment with surgeon Dr. Susan Mackinnon to assess how his Nov. 14 surgery to repair the damaged nerves went and if he can begin rehabilitation.

4. Adam Howarth hadn’t experienced a year like the 2006 men’s soccer season as Eastern’s head coach since his first year.

Howarth compiled a 12-6-1 record in 2000. Since then, he’d never registered more than eight wins in his next five seasons.

That was, until this year.

Led by the scoring ability of sophomore forward Brad Peters (11 goals) and the play-making ability of junior midfielder Mick Galeski (four goals and seven assists), the Panthers picked up their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament postseason win with a 3-1 defeat of Missouri State on Nov. 1.

The Panthers lost in the semifinals 2-0 to Creighton, but the talent supply will be there again next year, with the Panthers only losing four seniors.

3. Eastern women’s indoor track title claimed its first ever OVC Indoor Championship in late February.

The Panthers held off Tennessee State by 15 points (132-117) at Lantz Fieldhouse. Reminiscent of the entire indoor season, only one Panther claimed an individual victory.

Sophomore Chandra Golden’s victory in the 60-meter hurdles gave Eastern an extra 10 points towards the team title. The Panthers, led by triple jumpers Nicole Marczewski (5th place) and Jenna Uhe (5th place), sealed the win for Eastern with two events left.

2. Before this year, not too many people outside of Eastern and the Charleston community had heard of Tony Romo.

That all changed this year.

Romo broke onto the national scene in late October, leading the Cowboys to a 35-14 win against the Carolina Panthers on NBC. Romo-mania quickly spread across the nation, with Romo leading the Cowboys to a 9-7 record and a playoff trip.

However, Romo’s season will be remembered for his botched snap on a field goal in the Cowboys’ 21-20 loss at Seattle.

But all in all, a trip to the Pro Bowl, becoming a national icon in a few short months and leading America’s Team to the playoffs made Eastern proud of what Romo did.

1. The initial outlook was four to six weeks. But the estimated recovery period for Eastern football head coach Bob Spoo went the entire season.

Spoo had surgery at a St. Louis area hospital in late August, a week before Eastern opened the season at Illinois.

“When Spoo gets back, we expect to be undefeated,” said former Eastern starting quarterback Mike Donato in the Aug. 24 edition of The Daily Eastern News. “And he expects us to be too.”

Spoo missed all 13 games, returning to watch a few in the O’Brien Stadium press box late in the season.

While Eastern didn’t finish undefeated, it did have another solid year.

But even with Spoo out, Eastern football kept right on with its winning ways.

Assistant coach Mark Hutson took over as acting head coach and led the Panthers to an 8-5 record, a second straight OVC title and a second straight trip to the I-AA playoffs.

Spoo returned to day-to-day operations in early December and is scheduled to be on the sidelines when Eastern opens the 2007 season on Aug. 30 against Tennessee Tech.

-Compiled by Sports Editor Matt Daniels and Associate Sports Editor Kevin Murphy