Malay — For small college athletics teams in NCAA Division 1-A, the idea of playing on a Power 5 team usually comes down to travel costs.
That's because it's usually the smaller schools that provide visiting teams with contests on the larger schools' home fields/courts. It's actually very unlikely that a larger school would decide to come to a smaller school for a game…most of the time.
That's why Saturday marks a big moment for the Murray State football program, in fact just the latest big moment. Not only do the Racers have a Power 5 team (known in football circles as a “Friendly”) in a spring exhibition match, but they also have one of the biggest names in the sport, Southeastern Conference Power Tennessee. Yes, the Lady Vols are coming too. Kickoff at 11am at Cutchin Field.
Tennessee won the SEC East Division and tournament titles in 2021 and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in two of the past three years.
“It's always great when a school of that caliber comes to Murray,” Murray State head coach Matt Lodge said, noting that such a scenario is possible in the sport of football and that his own program has. He pointed out that he often does that. Guests at Cutchin over the past few years have included SEC powerhouse Mississippi State (featuring Murray native Channing Foster, a first-team All-SEC selection), Cincinnati (Big 12), Oklahoma State (Big 12), and Murray. It also includes neighboring Kentucky, which is home to a state university. From the SEC.
“But it's crazy for that to happen during a spring like this. They could have gone anywhere, but they chose to drive five hours from Knox.Will Will play with us? I think that speaks volumes.
“If you look at their spring schedule, you'll see Alabama (also in the SEC and a 2022 NCAA Final Four team), Wake Forest, and Clemson (both in the Atlantic Coast Conference and last year's (which produced the national champion Florida State University), and the coach is “21 Lady Vols skipper Brian Penske), and there's little Ole Murray State? It's nice to see it because I think it shows what people think of us.”
Murray State has proven its worth in the Missouri Valley Conference, a rugged mid-major league based in the Missouri Valley Conference, for the past two seasons after leaving the Ohio Valley Conference. In its debut season in 2022, Murray State was one win away from winning the Valley Tournament before reaching the quarterfinals last season.
Lodge said Saturday's opportunity came about through a combination of good timing and hard work by Murray State officials.
“During the spring, I think everyone is rushing to play games, but sometimes games get canceled (for example, what happened to the Racers in a friendly at North Alabama last week was the lack of available goalkeepers for UNA). (more on that later). Additionally, we lost seniors at Christmas (graduation), and new students don't officially start school until the fall. '' Lodge said. “As you can see, I'm playing in goal (during Wednesday morning practice) because we don't have a true goalie either.
“But you know what? I'd rather play with a mannequin in the goal than cancel the game. I'm never one to cancel a game, and (Murray State Code Compliance Officer) Haley Townsend and ( (Assistant Director of Athletics) Matt Kelly, along with our trainer (Jessica Jones) and (team physician at Murray State Track & Field) Richard Blalock) have helped us tremendously. It gave me permission to help other people’s children with their goals.”
One of those keepers is former Caldwell County standout Rachel McClung. Another is Kyla Jones, a former Murray High School standout forward who has never played the position but had a very strong background on the field, entering her freshman season as a walk-on on the Racers tennis team. There is. The Murray State program is one win away from winning its first Valley title.
In an interesting development, McClung and Jones also came to Murray State after reaching the Kentucky state tournament in their respective senior seasons. Jones played singles for Murray High School and McClung played doubles for Caldwell University.
“They're both great kids. They come here every morning at 6 a.m. and train with us. They go through the NCAA clearinghouse process and then do physicals. They train with us. are willing to do whatever it takes to help them finish the spring season. We were fortunate to find two players like that who were willing to play.
It is free and open to the public on Saturdays. Although the game will not count against the record, it is believed to be the first time in any sport that a Tennessee program will face Murray State on the grounds of Murray's main campus.
