2008 NCAA Tournament Preview: Austin Peay Governors

There are few things in life I love more than Championship Week. For my money, this week is just as exciting as the NCAA Tournament. Teams that would normally be ignored by most of us receive the spotlight, not to mention an opportunity to play in the tournament that determines that NCAA National Champion. For the second year in a row, yours truly will track the teams from smaller conferences entering the NCAA Tournament. Will the 2008 Tournament bring with it yet another Cinderella team?

The best team in the Ohio Valley Conference during the regular season, the Austin Peay Governors punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in convincing with an 18-point victory over Tennessee State in the OVC championship game. Being the best team in the Ohio Valley Conference doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. Austin Peay and Murray State are the only two teams finishing this season with above .500 records. Nevertheless, the Governors will be dancing this year. They may not want to check their coats at the door, though.

Austin Peay enters the NCAA Tournament with a 24-10 record, nothing special for a team coming out of the OVC. The Governors lost to such teams as Evansville (9-21), Samford (14-16) and SE Missouri State (12-19) during the regular season. The Governors only faced one ranked team and that wasn't a pretty sight. A 22-point loss on the road against Memphis isn't necessarily anything to be embarrassed about. Austin Peay is simply an untested team compared to other squads playing in the NCAA Tournament.

It's important to note that Austin Peay has been on quite a roll as of late. The Governors have won eleven of their last twelve contests. It cannot be emphasized enough that the hotter a team is entering the NCAA Tournament, the more dangerous they are. It's not an exaggeration to state that the Governors are playing their best basketball of the season at the perfect time.