CHARLESTON — Tom Michael realizes only one Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball team will hear its name called on March 17.
Selection Sunday doesn't have low-major programs waiting with baited breath to see if they are among the 68 teams chosen for the NCAA tournament. They'll know ahead of time.
Michael, the athletic director at Eastern Illinois and former Illinois men's basketball player and administrator, would love to see his Panthers break an NCAA tournament drought that stretches back to 2001.
But the only way EIU — or any OVC program for that matter — will see such an accomplishment is to end the night of March 9 by winning the conference tournament.