For Murray State, the hard part appears to be over. With a 76-72 win over then-21st ranked Memphis last weekend, the Racers improved to 10-0 and vaulted into the AP Top 25 at No. 24. They’re the first ranked Ohio Valley Conference team since they ended the 1997-98 regular season at No. 25.
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The hard part was claiming resume building wins over the Tigers, Southern Mississippi, Dayton and San Francisco. Those victories should put Murray State well into contention for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, where it upset No. 4 Vanderbilt in the first round as a No. 13 seed two years ago.
But because the Racers will be favored in their final two nonconference games and every Ohio Valley game from here out, any loss will give the selection committee a reason to ignore them. This adds a lot more pressure to conference play, which is never as easy as it is made out to be.
– Craig Stouffer
