The Ohio Valley Conference is perhaps as wide open as it has ever been.

The preseason favorite, Southeast Missouri, sits in ninth place at 4-9, clinging onto what little hopes it has left for an appearance in the eight-team tournament.

Meanwhile, the Eastern men’s basketball team, which is currently clinging to a No. 7 seed, has as good of chance to reach the final round as any other team.

Unless you are Belmont, the defending champions, or Murray State, last year’s runner-up, guaranteed success is few and far between this season.

Both the Bruins and the Racers sit at the top of their respective divisions at 11-2 in conference. But aside from those two teams, there are only two more teams that are more than one game above .500 in Morehead State (9-3) and Eastern Kentucky (8-5).

The remaining bottom four seeds rank as followed: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (7-6), Tennessee Tech (6-6), Eastern (6-8) and Austin Peay (5-7). Southeast Missouri and Jacksonville State sit on the outside at 4-8 and 4-9, respectively.

Now, if there’s one thing those headache standings show, it is that Eastern has the potential to make a postseason run.

Even in the midst of a three-game losing streak, the Panthers have the track to prove they can compete come tournament time.

Eastern has shown it can compete with teams in its league. Murray State only beat Eastern by four in Lantz Arena on Jan. 16.

And in their last meeting on Saturday, Eastern cut an 11-point deficit halfway through the second half to a 58-54 deficit with six minutes remaining.

Eventually the Racers pulled away for a 72-60 win, but considering the Panthers almost achieved an upset twice shows the possibilities.

The previous loss to Austin Peay might as well have an asterisk next to it, seeing as the Panthers were without five players who were suspended for missing curfew the night before.

Of those five players, four have played pivotal roles for the Panthers this season, including their second best scorer and assist leader, Reggie Smith, third best scorer and second leading rebounder, Chris Olivier, fourth best scorer and top 3-point shooter, Alex Austin, and also Keenen Anderson, who has started 12 games.

Smith also may have missed the last game against Murray State — only playing 11 minutes — because he was repeatedly being “knocked down,” Eastern coach Jay Spoonhour said.

Change the formula of Eastern’s lineup the past to games, and it is very likely their record is changed as well — we could be looking at an 8-6 team that .500 for the first time since 2009-2010.

Spoonhour said he sees seven wins as the target win total for the Panthers to make the tournament, but as things stand, they are on pace to at least clinch the No. 8 seed even if they lose the final two games to Belmont and Edwardsville.

With Southeast Missouri, at 4-8, being the closest team outside of the top eight, Eastern appears to be a lock for the tournament.

And if Eastern does clinch a berth for the second straight season, beware because the OVC is wide open.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].