Off to the Races

Always a big name amongst the nation's mid-majors, the Murray State Racers

are off to a perfect start after ten games.

March 18, 2010 will be a day that no one associated with Murray State University will ever forget.  On this day, Danero Thomas sank a buzzer beater to shock the 4th seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  A stunned San Jose crowd looked on as the Racers celebrated on the HP Pavilion floor.  However, Murray State, through the conference tournament, finished with a 30-4 record.  They weren't exactly a team that had showed up out of nowhere and turned heads.

The 2011-12 team is now ranked in many top 25 polls, and have gotten of to a 10-0 start this year.  One of their victims were Josh Pastner's Memphis team, a club many believed would compete for a bid in New Orleans this year.  Seven players on this year's team were also on the 2009-10 squad, including the team's top three scorers this season (Isaiah Canaan, Donte Poole, and Ivan Aska).  They also defeated Dayton, a team that many are including in this year's NCAA Tournament field.

Their schedule from this day on doesn't get much more difficult.  With no BCS conference opponents remaining on their schedule, one may actually get to wondering if the Racers can go undefeated heading into what seems to be an inevitable NCAA Tournament appearance.

Despite their lack of quality opponents (with the exception of Memphis and Dayton), this is an experienced team which consists of three seniors & six seniors.  However, we will find out how truly talented and well coached this team is once March is upon us.