Did you enjoy Murray State's win over Vanderbilt on Thursday? It was a nice way to kick off March Madness and gave the OVC a nice little boost.
The league won a game last year (the Opening Round game) and while it does count as a victory in the NCAA Tournament (and brought an extra "unit" of revenue to the league) it was not the marquee victory the league had been searching for since Middle Tennessee State won in 1989.
In fact the league had 3 straight marquee wins at the end of the 1980s, as Austin Peay beat Illinois in 1987 (the famous Dick Vitale "I will stand on my head" game), Murray State topped N.C. State in 1988 (the Racers only other NCAA win before yesterday; a game later in the tournament they barely lost to Danny Manning's Kansas team that would go on to win it all) and MTSU beat Florida State in 1989. But no OVC team had advanced to the 2nd round until this year.
Thanks to Danero Thomas' big shot, the Racers made a national splash and will look to back the Sweet 16 when they take on Butler on Saturday afternoon.
Below are a few of the articles about the Racers win over the Commodores. Included is a article from the Nashville Tennessean who chose not to run an article after Murray State won the OVC Championship in the city on March 6 ... my thought is they are probably paying a little bit more attention to the Racers and the OVC now!
Danero Thomas' Patient Buzzer-Beater Gives Murray State Legacy Win - Ann Killion, SI.com
Miracle Shot Lifts Murray State - Diamond Leung, ESPN.com
Murray State Revels in Opening Madness - Mark Purdy, Mercury News
Racers Beat Vandy at Buzzer, Move Into 2nd Round - David Ramey, Examiner.com
Led by Murray State ... - Michael Wilbon, Washington Post
Candid Cam: Murray Madness Christens NCAA Slate - Cam Inman, Mercury News
Loss is 'Just Heartbreaking' - Jeff Lockridge, The Tennessean
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