Saturday gameday news

Here's what's happening on the final weekend of OVC action:

Tennessee State at Eastern Kentucky, noon
#12 UT-Martin at Murray State, 1 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Southeast Missouri State, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville State at #17 Eastern Illinois, 1:30 p.m.

and at 4 p.m. Austin Peay State plays their final game before rejoining the OVC. They'll face another former OVC team in transition - Western Kentucky.

And here's the news:

Most folks aren't giving APSU a chance in Bowling Green, according to the (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle. But the Govs aren't counting themselves out. Freshman linebacker Daniel Becker tells the paper, "For us coming out of non-shcolarship, they're the biggest team we've played all year, they're perinneally a power house and won a national championship in 2002. So it's going to be big for our program. Everybody is going to be hyped up because Western overlooked all the guys here."

Most folks from Anniston, Ala., will be pulling for Jax State in today's game at Eastern Illinois (Anniston is Jacksonville's bigger next-door neighbor to the south). Not so Donovan Johnson, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. This Annistonian not only will be pulling for the Panthers, he'll be playing defensive end.

The once-predicted conference championship now is out of reach, but The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal says that Eastern Kentucky has 29 years of winning tradition to play for today against TSU. The paper also briefs the Martin-Murray game and the APSU-WKU contest (think they realize that neither team is actually in the OVC?).

A long way from 29 winning seasons, the Murray (Ky.) Ledger & Times says Murray State is hoping to win a conference game today, something it hasn't done in at least two years. Doing it against one of the league leaders, a team the Racers' current coach apparently built into a powerhouse, will be no small task.

A winning season is out the window, so Southeast Missouri State will be looking to end with a win and their dignity today against Tennessee Tech, according to the Southeast Missourian.

They've only played in four games together, thanks to injuries, if there was ever a good time to play a fifth, it's today. Tennessee State will have both quarterback Antonio Heffner and wide receiver Mike Mason available for today's contest against at EKU, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean.

It's not quite like being in the conference title hunt, but for a team that was picked to finish near dead-last, it's something. Tennessee Tech can finish in 5th place in the OVC race, if they win and games around the league go their way today, according to the (Cookeville, Tenn.) Herald-Citizen. Here's a link to the HC sports section.