OVC tweaks tournament

The Ohio Valley Conference announced a change in venues and format for its postseason basketball tournament Monday.

Beginning next season, all eight men's and all eight women's teams that qualify for the tournament will meet at one site in Nashville, Tenn., for the entire tournament.

Previously first-round games were played on campus sites, with the semifinals and finals held in Nashville.

More importantly, the bracket will shift from a traditional format (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.) to a merit-based format that rewards the top teams during the regular season with byes into the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Starting next season, the first round of the tournament will feature the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and the No. 6 seed against the No. 7 seed. The winners of those games will advance to a pair of quarterfinals to face the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, who will receive a bye. The winners of those quarterfinal matchups will advance to the semifinals to face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, who will receive two byes.

The fifth through eighth seeds would have to win four games over four consecutive days in order capture the title. The third and fourth seeds would need to win three games in three days, with the top two seeds required to win only two games in two days.

Next year's tournament will be March 2 through 5, Wednesday through Saturday.

"This is a positive development for our conference and will truly enhance the championship experience for our student-athletes," OVC commissioner Beth DeBauche said in a release. "Having 16 teams come to Nashville gives us the opportunity to showcase what our student-athletes and our member institutions are all about."

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt seemed fine with the new format, mainly because all tournament games will be played at a neutral site. In the past, including this season, the top four seeds earned the right to host the bottom four seeds in the first round.

"It puts more emphasis on finishing as high as you possibly can," Nutt said.

Nutt acknowledged that "it's a very tough road" for the teams seeded outside the top four that would have to win four games in four days to claim the championship.

But, based on what has transpired in the past, squads not seeded among the top four have found it virtually impossible to win the tournament anyway.

No OVC men's team seeded outside the top four has ever won the tournament. The only OVC women's team to pull that off was fifth-seeded Austin Peay last season.

Along with the change in format comes a relocation of the tournament to historic Nashville Municipal Auditorium, which ensures that the event will remain in Nashville. Municipal Auditorium hosted the tournament in 1989 (men only), 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004 and most recently in 2008.

This year's tournament semifinals and finals will be held at the Sommet Center in Nashville. The tournament semifinals and finals have been held in Nashville 16 times in the last 17 years, mostly at the Sommet Center.

Smith nets OVC honor

Southeast guard Marland Smith was named OVC freshman of the week Monday, the second time he has won the award this season.

Smith was the Redhawks' leading scorer in both games last week, averaging 23.5 points while shooting 53.3 percent (16 of 30) from the field overall and 47.6 percent (10 of 21) from 3-point range.

Smith scored 19 points at OVC regular-season champion Murray State and had a career-high 28 points at Miami (Ohio). The 28 points were the most by a Southeast player this season.