After week one, take the preseason poll and flip it over.

Of the top five teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, four of them have already lost their opening game and the one team left undefeated is Eastern Illinois.

“I think Eastern Illinois is certainly in the drivers seat as far as the Ohio Valley Conference,” Sports Network I-AA reporter Matt Dougherty said.

Currently, road teams are 1-5 this season with the Panthers the only team with the victory.

Murray State lost at Tennessee State two weeks ago, preseason favorite Eastern Kentucky lost at Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State lost at Tennessee-Martin.

“I don’t know why it’s so hard to win on the road in the OVC honestly,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said. “It’s not as if the stadiums are huge so it must be the travel.”

The Panthers coaching staff is not ready after the first game to declare a repeat conference championship, especially after the string of recent upsets.

But they recognize getting that road victory is a big confidence boost.

“I was talking with coach Spoo and asked him about the conference and he said he was out of the prediction business,” Bellantoni said. “I think having that road game routine under our belt is a major benefit.”

Another benefit may be in a season that couldn’t have gone any worse throughout the first three non-conference games, the Panthers luck may be going back up.

“We have not played our best football game yet combining all three phases of football,” Bellantoni said. “It seems we are definitely the road warriors.”

This week Jacksonville State travels to Eastern Kentucky.

Both already have one loss, making this not only a do-or-die game, but a result the Panthers will be fully aware of before they take the field Saturday night in Hawaii.

“I think the loser of that game is in deep trouble when you look at the Ohio Valley Conference,” Dougherty said. “It’s always been a team with a 7-1 or 8-0 record that wins it.”

The national perspective on Eastern is that the offense needs to continue its improved play during the conference season to make it back-to-back playoff appearances.

The road trip that looms large for the Panthers may be the Oct. 28 game at Tennessee-Martin.

The Skyhawks, who have never won an OVC title in school history, has the fourth ranked total defense in the nation and are on a three-game winning streak.

“They are a very dangerous team and a developing program that now has two solid running backs,” Dougherty said. “They have similar styles with Eastern having a great back and both with solid offensive lines.”

In an ironic twist, the newfound depth of the OVC will make the conference a one-bid league for the I-AA playoffs for a third consecutive year.

“The schools that consistently would fill the bottom are better,” Dougherty said, “With Tennessee State and Martin, along with Samford become teams that will knock off the top schools.”