That team from Calloway County is coming to Clarksville.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President the first time the two teams met. The first mobile phone was still 31 years away. The three-point line would not be implemented until the 58th all-time meeting between the two sides. It's a rivalry older than 98 percent of people on earth.

It's Austin Peay and Murray State.

The first meeting between the Governors and Racers was Dec. 18, 1941 in Clarksville at the Old Clarksville High School gym. Since then, the two have met 141 times, with all but eight meetings coming in Ohio Valley Conference play. Saturday, the two meet for the second time as nonconference foes since 1952 and the first with Corey Gipson as the Governors' head coach.

Gipson is no stranger to the rivalry, having faced the Racers five times as a player and six as an assistant coach.

During his playing career, Gipson made one of the most memorable shots in the historic rivalry, with a game-winning three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to earn a 66-63 victory against the Racers, Jan. 11, 2003, in Calloway County.

"Some things in life you can act oblivious to," said Gipson. "I have been on many coaching staffs where we try to dial down the reality. Sometimes, when things are a fact, you have to live in the reality and understand the nature of it. This game is not just about two programs clashing, it is about communities understanding the significance of it… As people who are currently in the situation, we have to make sure that the new guys on the roster understand the significance of the situation because maybe in the past they were not in-tune and in touch with the Austin Peay-Murray State rivalry. I remember some Murray State teams not being very good that were always ready for the Austin Peay game, and I remember some Austin Peay teams that weren't very good that were always ready for the Murray State game. We are most definitely looking forward to it. It will most definitely be a hard-fought, competitive game."

We haven't even talked about one of the biggest moments in program history that came during that 2002-03 season: The Block.

The Block is one of the greatest plays in program history and led to one of the few three-game series sweeps by either team across the 82-year-old rivalry.

Let's set the stage.

The 2003 OVC Tournament semifinals. The regular-season champion Governors and fourth-seeded Racers go into overtime. Josh Lewis makes a layup to put the Govs up 57-56 with 50 seconds remaining, Anthony Davis sinks a free throw to extend the lead 30 seconds later, and then, with under 10 seconds remaining, the Racers' Cuthbert Victor drives baseline and is met at the rim by Lewis who blocks Victor's right-handed dunk attempt. The defection is corralled by Davis who splits his attempts at the line, making the first and missing the second. The rebound is corralled by Victor and passed up court to Antione Whelchel who misses the game-tying three-pointer. The Govs then advance to the OVC title game the following day where they claim their eighth conference title in a 63-57 victory against Tennessee Tech in Nashville.

Austin Peay's three wins against the Racers that season are just one of four times the Govs – and one of seven times either team – have won two regular-season meetings and a postseason matchup. All three games also were decided by three points, marking just the second time three-straight games in the series have been decided by one score.

The next time either team swept a three-game season series? That takes us to the 2008-09 series which was captained by a Clarksville native hailing from Northeast High School.

A 2017 Austin Peay Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Drake Reed won five of his nine meetings against the Racers in a 33-point outing – the second-highest point total of his career – which led to an 83-80 Austin Peay win over the Racers in the Winfield Dunn Center, Feb. 7, 2009.

Earlier that season, he led the Govs to their first road win in the series since Gipson and the Govs' 2004 victory in Calloway County. Reed made the go-ahead jumper with under 10 seconds remaining to escape enemy territory with the 58-57 victory.

"The rivalry is significant because, for many years, to win the OVC you had to beat either Austin Peay or Murray State," said Reed. "Growing up in Clarksville, Murray was known as a bad word. My freshman year we took them to the wire only to get beat at the buzzer on our home floor. My senior year I had the opportunity to return the favor with a go-ahead bucket at Murray to win the game… Playing against Murray brings a different energy in the air. Against Murray, you could expect the ESPN truck pulled up and a packed-out crowd filled with our PEAYple painted in red."

The 2023 isn't a meeting between two teams vying for a spot in a conference title game, it's not even a conference game anymore. But it is one that both communities have had circled on the calendar for months. It's one that means that much more to legacy students whose parents, grandparents, and maybe even great-grandparents were a part of when the two teams clashed in March.

Ask any Gov – player, coach, support staff, student, or even just fan – who have been a part of an Austin Peay-Murray State game and the sentiment will be the same, this game is unlike any other. 

Governors vs. Racers. 6:15 p.m. Saturday night in F&M Bank Arena. Wear red.

See you there.