Get to Know the OVC - Eastern Illinois edition

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Get to Know the OVC - Eastern Illinois edition

So, I thought I'd start with the "full" (all sports including football) members, which means EIU is first up. Also, just so you're aware, most school's write-ups are not going to be this long. We just have a long history with EIU, so I thought I'd put a lot of time into this one.

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EIU is in many ways, our "mirror" institution. Established 4 years before WIU was as Eastern Illinois State Normal School (we were Western Illinois State Normal School). Like us, they have gone through budget and enrollment issues the last decade or so. From a recent high of 12,349 students in Fall of 2006 (our high was 13,602 in 2006), they dropped down to just over 7k students before moving back up a bit and currently sit at 8,857. I will say that part of that increase is due to a change in how they count students though...they now count dual-enrollment students (HS students taking a few college classes) in their headcount, and I don't believe they did that before a few years ago. For comparison, WIU got down to a low of 7,455 and is currently at 7,643.

EIU is located in Charleston, IL, a town of just over 17k people, which is right next to Mattoon, a town of just under 17k people. The Charleston-Mattoon Micro Statistical Area has a total population of around 63k people. Also, Jimmy John's was founded in Charleston, 1 block north of EIU, in 1983. In 1986, the second Jimmy John's was opened in Macomb, 3 block south of WIU. Driving, Eastern Illinois is 194 miles from Western Illinois, and should take about 3 1/2 hours to get there.

Notable non-athletic alumni of EIU include Burl Ives, John Malkovich, Jerry Van Dyke (the Van Dyke family, including brother Dick, grew up in Danville, not too far from Charleston and EIU), former IL governor Jim Edgar, and Jimmy John Liautaud (founder of Jimmy John's).

Athletics

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The two schools have spent a great deal of time in conferences together throughout much of their histories. Both were IIAC (Illinois/Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) members from the 19-teens through the disbanding of the conference in 1970. We were both founding members of the Mid-Continent Conference (Summit League) in 1978, as well as founding members of the Gateway Conference (MVFC) in 1985. EIU would leave the Mid-Con in 1996 and the Gateway in 1995, moving all of their sports to the OVC, where they have remained since then. Prior to that mid-90's move, EIU was generally regarded as WIU's biggest rival in many sports, and frequently drew some of the largest crowds. EIU goes by the nickname "Panthers" and their colors are blue and gray.

Football

EIU plays at O'Brien Field in Charleston, which seats 10k, with a record attendance of 12.6k in 1980. It was opened in 1970 and renovated in 1999. The Panthers made it to the 1978 DII national championship game under HC Darrell Mudra (who had succesful stints at WIU, as well as North Dakota State, the previously-mentioned EIU, and Northern Iowa). In the OVC, they have won the conference 7 times, most recently in 2012 and 2013, and their last playoff appearance was in 2015. In 2013, they were the #2 seed in the FCS playoffs, and won their first game over fellow OVC member TN State before falling to eventual national championship runner-up Towson.

They've had a number of accomplished QBs in their history, including current Denver Broncos HC Sean Payton, former Raiders and Broncos HC Mike Shanahan, former Cowboys QB and current sportscaster Tony Romo, and current Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo (younger brother of former Leatherneck LB Mike Garoppolo).

EIU has a rivalry series with Illinois State called the Mid-America Classic that began in 1901 and has been played 110 times. ISU currently leads that series 59-42-9. Western Illinois and EIU have played each other 67 times starting in 1930 and most recently with a H&H series in 2015 and 2016. WIU holds the lead in that series, 42-21-4. One notable matchup between the two teams was in the first round of the 2002 playoffs, where #2 WIU crushed the Tony Romo-led #6 EIU Panthers, 48-9 (our next game in the playoffs was the infamous WKU "sledgehammer fight game").

Like us, the last few years have been a struggle for EIU football, going 2-9 in 2022, 1-10 in 2021, 1-5 in the shortened 2020 (played in spring 2021) season, and 1-11 in 2019. This year, EIU will play two MVFC teams (INSU and ILSU) as well as Bowling Green (FBS MAC), McNeese, and Northwestern State (both Southland). In the OVC+Big South, they will play home games against UT-Martin, Bryant, and Tennessee State, and road games against SEMO, Lindenwood, and Robert Morris.

Basketball

On the court, the men's basketball team has appeared in two NCAA tournaments, as a #15 seed in both 1992 and 2001, losing to Indiana and Arizona respectively. They were OVC champions in 2001. EIU and WIU have played in men's basketball over 160 times, with EIU holding a slight advantage (the two schools media guides have different numbers...EIU says it's 84-83, WIU says it's 84-80...both say EIU leads the series though). The two teams play for the "Old Railsplitter Ax" trophy. Former high-profile players include 2x NBA All-Star Kevin Duckworth and 2x NCAA scoring runner-up and current NBA G League HC Henry Domercant.

Three of the top 4 basketball crowds in Leatherneck history have come when hosting EIU back in the early '80s, including a record 7,632 fans showing up to see WIU host EIU in January of 1982 (Western won, 65-53). I'm pretty sure that's well above Western Hall's capacity now.

Over the last 3 seasons, EIU's men's basketball team has gone 23-66 (.258). The current Men's HC is Marty Simmons, who has a 14-48 record over his two seasons with the Panthers. Previously he spent 11 seasons at Evansville (MVC) where he went 184-175 and won the CIT in 2015.

The women's team has appeared in 1 NCAA tournament, in 1988, losing to Colorado. WIU and EIU have played 57 times in women's basketball, with EIU holding a 37-20 series lead. Over the last three years, they have gone 48-37 (.565), but last year was particularly good, going 21-8 overall and 14-4 in the OVC. They were OVC champions in 2010 and 2013. The women's HC is Matt Bollant, who has a 81-93 record over 6 seasons there. Bollant was previously HC at Illinois for 5 seasons (61-94 record) and prior to that, had 5 successful years at Green Bay, playing in the WNIT his first year, and the NCAA tournament the following 4 years.

Both basketball teams and the women's volleyball team play in the 5,400 seat on-campus Lantz Arena.

Other Sports

In addition to the above-mentioned football and men's and women's basketball, EIU sponsors the following sports:
Men - Baseball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Indoor and Outdoor T&F
Women - Beach Volleyball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Indoor and Outdoor T&F, and Indoor Volleyball

Like us, they haven't had a great deal of success in a number of their other sports, with a few exceptions. Volleyball in 2022 went 16-16 and 10-8 in the OVC (tied for 3rd). Baseball went 10-11 in the OVC but 29-18 overall. And most notably, their softball team went 16-6 in the OVC, 34-19 overall, and just won the OVC softball tournament last Saturday to punch their ticket to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. They will face Northwestern in the first round of the double-elimination tournament this coming Friday (4:30 PM on ESPN+ if you're interested).

They also have quite a good distance running program, with both the men and women winning the conference Cross Country title. The men's indoor track team also won the conference, outdoor got 3rd. On the women's side, they were 5th in indoor T&F and 3rd in outdoor T&F.

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Scott Lawson - Board Admin
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Amazing writeup. It's too bad a generation missed out on EIU/WIU being a conference rivalry, but great to have it back. They're our natural rival. I look forward to future road games in Charleston-Mattoon. 
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