Only four of the eight berths that go to conference champions have been claimed, leaving 12 spots to be decided, including the Gateway Conference's automatic representative. UNI can earn that spot if Youngstown State defeats Western Illinois Saturday and the Panthers win a drawing among the three co-champs. You can pencil in No. The Blue Hens' only loss was to 'Nova. Northeastern has defeated only three teams with winning records.
None has the credentials of Northern Iowa.
Win or lose, the Colonels should be the OVC's automatic qualifier since the Blue Panthers will be one game short of a full round-robin, but that's not official. It will be hard to ignore Eastern Illinois if it wins this weekend. Murray State is on the outside looking in with a 7-4 record. They meet this weekend. Chattanooga will be 8-3 if it defeats Furman.