Tie-breakers are annoying.

They are confusing. They drive coaches, players, fans and media crazy.

And the Eastern women’s tennis finds itself in a precarious situation because of them.

The Panthers finished the season 5-5 in the conference, and in sixth place, the final spot to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

But Eastern was unsure if they had qualified or not following a regular season-ending win against Southeast Missouri. They had to wait for one final league match.

And that final match further muddled Eastern’s postseason chances. Tennessee Tech beat Tennessee-Martin on Monday to move into a tie for fifth place with the Panthers and the Skyhawks.

All three teams won one game and lost one game against the other two teams tied for fifth. And all three teams lost to the top four teams in the conference.

Two teams will make the OVC Championships and one will be left out. What order those teams will fall is still up in the air.

Eastern men’s team made the OVC Championships, but a tie-breaker still looms in the Panthers’ future.

The men’s team is guaranteed a spot in the league tournament. That much is known. Where they are seeded, though, is another question to be answered.

The Panthers finished in a three-way tie for third place with Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky. All three teams finished 6-3 in conference play. All three teams beat one of the other teams tied for third and lost to one of the teams tied for third. And all three have lost to the two top teams in the conference, Samford and Tennessee Tech.

But in the men’s league last season, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech both finished 8-1 for a share of the conference regular season title. Samford, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois all finished 7-2 in a tie for third place.

At least with men’s and women’s basketball there are written down tie-breakers for coaches, players, fans and media to fret over at the end of a close regular season – if they have time to read a novel.

OK, the tie-breaker is only four pages, but it feels like you have to have a Ph.D. to read it because it breaks down each and every possible situation in detail.

That was needed this season for women’s basketball.

The Eastern women’s basketball team finished in a three-way tie for second in the OVC this season. The Panthers split their series with Samford and Murray State (also tied for second), but because they lost two games to Southeast Missouri, who finished first, Eastern finished as the fourth seed.

Tie-breaker confusion continued with OVC volleyball. Jacksonville State, SEMO and Morehead State all finished 15-5 in the conference for a share of the OVC regular season championship. But Jacksonville State won the tie-breaker and hosted the conference tournament.

The tie-breaker in women’s soccer is easy enough. Points are awarded based on wins and tied games. Three points and one point for tie in conference play. It’s simple enough, and there were no ties this season. But if there were, the tie-breaker would go to points.

Ultimately, beating the tie-breaker comes down to teams and players winning important matches or games.

It’s not fun for anyone to sit down and mark down every tie-breaker situation. But at the same time, it’s what sports is all about. Sports are the pressure situations. Does your season continue based on a coin flip or if you scored more points?

Either way, there’s a thrill to it.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.