Coaching changes at a third of the Ohio Valley's schools will bring a different look to the conference this season. In three of those cases, the new hires had local ties.
Murray State turned to former assistant Matt McMahon to lead the program after Steve Prohm left for a new challenge at Iowa State.
After 10 years at Eastern Kentucky, Jeff Neubauer took off for Fordham. The Colonels turned to Dan McHale, who was a student manager on Kentucky's 1998 national championship team and a former assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville.
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville turned to its prodigal son Jon Harris, who played at Edwardsville High School and has spent the past few years as an assistant coach under Cuonzo Martin at both Tennessee and California.
Southeast Missouri gladly hired Rick Ray after he was let go from Mississippi State following just his third season to make way for Ben Howland.
Favorite
Belmont has reached the league's tournament final in each of its three seasons as a member of the league. There's no reason to believe the Bruins won't make it to a fourth consecutive title-game appearance and perhaps their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years.
Belmont has arguably the league's best inside-outside combination in guard Craig Bradshaw and forward Evan Bradds, who led the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 68.8 percent.
Sleeper
A sign of real progress for Jacksonville State would simply be qualifying for the tournament. The OVC tournament, that is. The Gamecocks haven't qualified for the league's postseason event over the past three seasons. They could be this year's version of Tennessee-Martin, which jumped from just eight wins in 2013-14 to 21 last season. Notre Dame transfer Cam Beidscheid is a major reason for the optimism. The 6-foot-7 wing -- rated No. 64 in the ESPN 100 back in 2012 -- initially left the Irish to play closer to home at Missouri, but he was dismissed by new coach Kim Anderson before ever suiting up.
Team that could fall on its face
Harris has arguably the toughest job in the conference. The Panthers haven't had a winning season since transitioning from Division II to Division I in 2007. This doesn't look like the year they break the streak of losing seasons either. SIU-E is the only team in the conference without a returning starter. C.J. Carr, a 5-foot-7 guard, is the only returning player with any experience. This has all the makings for another long season.
Top pro prospect
Chris Horton, Austin Peay Governors
Horton should make a strong push to be named the league's player of the year. The 6-foot-8 senior led the OVC with 11.1 rebounds per game, and with a 13.1 scoring average, he was the first Austin Peay player since Tommy Brown in 1990-91 to average a double-double. At just 195 pounds, Horton doesn't have the physical makeup of an intimidating shot blocker, yet he led the OVC in blocked shots last season (2.3 per game) and is already the Governors' career leader in that category.
Projected all-conference team
G: Craig Bradshaw, Belmont
F: Cam Biedscheid, Jacksonville State
F: Evan Bradds, Belmont
F: Twymond Howard, Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
F: Chris Horton, Austin Peay