Last polls and Tuesday news

The final regular season top 25 polls are out, and the OVC's playoff representatives are in good standing heading into the first round. UT-Martin held its ground at #12 in the Sports Network's official poll of sportswriters, and also is 12th in the College Sporting News coaches poll, and the AnyGivenSaturday.com fan poll. Eastern Illinois rose to 14th in the TSN poll, and is 16th in both the other polls.

Here's today's news:

Let the conference-hopping talk begin. The Birmingham (Ala.) News' Mike Perrin says Samford officials are seriously weighing overtures from the Southern Conference. That's a turning of the tables on the OVC, which was rebuffed by UT-Chattanooga earlier this year.

The (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier reports on the rankings, and begins to preview Eastern Illinois' opponents, Illinois State.

There weren't as many wins as he'd like to have had, but coach Tony Samuel thinks Southeast Missouri State is on the right track, according to the Southeast Missourian.

The (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen says Tennessee Tech's win over SEMO on Saturday was an emotional one. Acting coach Doug Malone didn't get long to celebrate, though. He's got to update his resume to get in the running for keeping the job full-time. Here's a link to the HC sports section.