Sunday stories

With the first week of the season upon us and with many papers' college football previews coming out today, the Web is chock-full of OVC stories. Here's what I've found:

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle says Austin Peay State is glad to have finished camp Saturday. The Govs get today off, then Monday they'll start classes and preparations for the opener against Southeast Missouri State. A short item at the end of the story notes that Jeff Sagarin thinks APSU is the worst team in Division I - almost. Sagarin ranked the Govs 240th out of 241, ahead of only Butler.

The Richmond (Ky.) Register continues its day-by-day look at different units of the Eastern Kentucky squad. Today it's the offensive line, where coach Danny Hope has done a little tinkering to get a little more experience and athleticism up front.

The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader's college preview has a look at EKU, with a story on Patrick Bugg's transformation from a redshirt freshman recruited to play quarterback to an all-American tight end. There's also a scouting report and a list of five players to watch. The Herald-Leader also previews Murray State's season, with a look at the changes new coach Matt Griffin has wrought on the team. Again, a scouting report, and a list of five players to watch.

The Lousiville (Ky.) Courier-Journal also has a college preview today with a story on EKU and Josh Greco's transformation from mistake-prone freshman to OVC offensive player of the year. The Courier-Journal also looks at Murray State, and like the Herald-Leader focuses on Matt Griffin's turnaround project. There's also a run-down on the rest of the league, schedules for every team, and last year's final standings. Nice job by the Courier-Journal.

The (Columbia) Missourian, in a preview of Missouri's season, says a Murray State adminstrator hopes the Racers return from their Saturday visit to Mizzou with a check and no dead players.

The Anniston (Ala.) Star (sorry, subscribers only) has a story on Jacksonville State's Josh Cain, a redhsirt freshman walk-on who has impressed the coaches enough to earn a spot on the Gamecocks' travel roster. The Star's college preview also is out today, but I can't find it anywhere on the paper's Web site. There's a four-story, eight-page section on JSU. One story says JSU is counting on an improved defense to bring the Gamecocks another OVC championship. Coach Jack Crowe says improved salaries for assistant coaches could help the school retain staff, and keep winning those conference titles. There's also a look at the QB-WR combo of Matt Hardin and Josh Moten, plus a feature on senior safety Kenny Brown, who put off the NFL draft to give JSU one more year.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News also previews the college season today. There's a story on Samford's defense being the key to the Bulldogs' title hopes, ratings for the each of the team's units, and a list of "top 5" lists with a lot of JSU and Samford items. Pretty weak offering for a big paper with two OVC teams in its coverage area. The news should look to the Courier-Journal to see how it's done.

The Huntsville (Ala.) Times has a short item on Jax State in its football preview, and the The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News includes AP stories on Samford and Jax State in its college preview.

The Southeast Missourian has a story on SMEO starting quarterback Kevin Ballatore, leading the Redhawks after sitting out much of 2005 with a broken foot. In a column where he predicts the outcome of Arkansas' 2006 season, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Rob Keys says SEMO, "a bunch of homecoming chumps," will go down to the Razorbacks 44-6, with no discussion of the two teams whatsover in his his prediction.

And, last but not least, today's Chicago Sun-Times carries a story on Eastern Illinois tarting the season without coach Bob Spoo, in a roundup of state teams.

EDIT (12:24 p.m.): I missed The (Nashville) Tennssean's excellent football preview. It includes a look at Tennssee State's big changes for 2006, APSU's impending return to the OVC, the beginning of the Doug Malone era at Tennessee Tech, capsules for all OVC teams, Tennessee State coach James Webster's three biggest concerns (in PDF), and the sports staff's prediction for a variety of things in 2006, including the OVC champion (six votes for EKU, one for EIU) (also in PDF)

Whew. Just five days to go, folks. Hang in there.