Cougars/Murray State game on ESPNU

The Ohio Valley Conference officially announced today that the SIUE/Murray State game Jan. 21 at the Vadalabene Center will be televised on ESPNU as a "Wild Card Game" in the conference's television package.

The No. 18 Racers (14-0, 2-0 OVC) and the Cougars (4-7, 2-0 OVC) are two of four teams unbeaten in the OVC early.

While Murray State is clearly the class of the league and has the talent to go far in the NCAA tournament, SIUE has been playing great as of late (knock on wood, we will see more tonight) and will have the fans on their side.

People from other schools in the conference I think underestimate the Cougar's fanbase because they have yet to see it firsthand. While we are not the most enthusiastic bunch night in, night out, the Cougars have people show up to their games. We haven't been under 1,000, and that includes games against non-Division I teams and games during Christmas break.

Remember the game against Murray last year? It was loud, and the students were into the whole white out thing. It got the Racers off of their game a little bit, and they came away with a narrow victory. I wouldn't expect SIUE to be the first team to beat Murray State this season and wouldn't be surprised with a 20-30 point blowout loss at home. Still, the ESPN cameras should be enough to make the VC a hostile environment since it's a new thing for us. People will get excited, that's a guarantee.

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