Ohio Valley Conference


The Ohio Valley Conference is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 12 members, 9 of which compete in football in the conference.

History

Primary source :

The Ohio Valley Conference can trace its roots to 1941 when Murray State athletic director Roy Stewart, Eastern Kentucky athletic director Charles "Turkey" Hughes, and Western Kentucky public relations director Kelly Thompson first formulated the idea of establishing a regional athletics conference. The plan was put on hold due to World War II, but it was resurrected after the conclusion of the war. In 1948, the three schools joined with Louisville, Morehead State, and Evansville to form the Ohio Valley Conference. While many collegiate conferences are struggling today with the question of whether their policies and rules should be determined by the athletic departments or by the institutional heads, from the very beginning, the OVC has been run by the presidents of its member schools.
Historically, the OVC was a pioneer in racial desegregation, with Morehead State signing the conference's first black athlete, Marshall Banks, in 1958. The rest of the OVC soon followed in Morehead State's wake. From 1986 to 2018, the OVC was unique among NCAA Division I conferences in that it included one historically black university, Tennessee State University, in a conference that otherwise consists of institutions that are not traditionally black. During this period, every other HBCU in NCAA Division I belonged to either the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference or Southwestern Athletic Conference. That distinction changed in July 2018 when Hampton University joined the Big South Conference.
The OVC has also been a leader in advancement of sports opportunities for women. The conference began adding championship competitions for women in 1977 several years after the AIAW began sponsoring national championships for women, but seven years before the NCAA was ready to move into the field. Since 2009, the OVC has been led by Commissioner Beth DeBauche, one of only six female commissioners for the thirty-two Division I conferences.
Athletic rivalries, really close colleges and especially when competitors are in relatively close proximity, can generate problems with fan behavior, and the conference leadership struggled with controlling the issue for many years. When the national debate on the problem reached its apex in the mid-1990s, the OVC unveiled the national first of its kind "Sportsmanship Statement" in 1995, stating the conference's policy on, "... principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent." Since then, the OVC has also introduced individual, team, and institutional sportsmanship awards.
Founded by six schools, the expansions of 2007 and 2011 have brought the Ohio Valley Conference membership to twelve schools, the most in its history.

OVC Digital Network

In August 2012, the OVC announced that it had launched the OVC Digital Network as a replacement for and improvement over the conference's former efforts to provide streaming video coverage of many athletic events that had been in place since 2006. This website carried live, student-produced coverage of most conference games and some non-conference games in baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, soccer, softball, and volleyball as well as some coaches' shows, special presentations, and archived game-casts available for later viewing.
In its first two years, the network provided well over 600,000 viewings of streamed live video of more than 1400 events.
In the 2018-19 school year the coverage previously carried on the OVC Digital Network was switched over to ESPN+.

Member schools

Full members

;Note
  1. Morehead State's football team competes in the Pioneer Football League, a Division I FCS football-only conference whose members choose not to offer athletic scholarships for football.

    Affiliate members

Years listed in this table are calendar years. For schools that play only spring sports in the OVC, the calendar year of arrival precedes the first season of competition.
InstitutionLocationFoundedTypeNicknameEnrollmentJoinedSportPrimary
Conference
University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaChattanooga, Tennessee1886Public
Mocs11,3882019Beach volleyballSouthern

Former members

;Notes

Former affiliate members

;Notes

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Period = from:1948 till:2023
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id:former value:tan1
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
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bar:1 color:Full from:1948 till:1949 text:Louisville
bar:2 color:Full from:1948 till:1952 text:Evansville
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bar:3 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2001
bar:4 color:Full from:1948 till:1996 text:Morehead State
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end
bar:5 color:Full from:1948 till:end text:Eastern Kentucky
bar:6 color:Full from:1948 till:end text:Murray State
bar:7 color:Full from:1949 till:1952 text:Marshall
bar:8 color:Full from:1949 till:end text:Tennessee Tech
bar:9 color:Full from:1952 till:1999 text:Middle Tennessee State
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2000
bar:10 color:Full from:1957 till:1978 text:East Tennessee State
bar:11 color:Full from:1962 till:1997 text:Austin Peay
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1997 till:2007
bar:11 color:Full from:2007 till:end
bar:12 color:Full from:1980 till:1987 text:Akron
bar:13 color:Full from:1981 till:1988 text:Youngstown State
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1988 text:Tennessee State
bar:14 color:Full from:1988 till:end
bar:15 color:Full from:1991 till:end text:Southeast Missouri State
bar:16 color:Full from:1992 till:end text:Tennessee-Martin
bar:17 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Eastern Illinois
bar:18 color:Full from:2003 till:2008 text:Samford
bar:19 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Jacksonville State
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2008 till:end text:SIUE
bar:21 shift: color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text:Belmont
bar:22 shift: color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2015 text:Columbus State
bar:23 shift: color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:Chattanooga
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Purple = Full member
Magenta = Full member except football
Orange = Associate member for football only
Green = Associate for sport other than football

Comments

  • Morehead State's football team competes in the Pioneer Football League, a Division I FCS football-only conference whose members choose not to offer athletic scholarships for football.
  • Austin Peay's football team left the OVC after the 1996 season to compete as an NCAA D-I FCS Independent. After four seasons as an Independent, the team joined the Pioneer Football League in 2001, and remained there through the 2005 season. Austin Peay then returned to scholarship football, spending the 2006 season as an Independent before re-entering OVC football competition in 2007.

    Conference divisions

Starting with the 2012–13 school year, the twelve member schools divided into two divisions for those sports where all schools compete. In the 2014–15 season, women's sports with twelve teams returned to a single league table, while continuing to play a divisional schedule. Men's basketball moved to an 18-game schedule in 2017-18, and they continue to play home-and-home versus the former divisional rivals, and they play home-and-home versus two teams from the other division, with those opponents on a rotation that sets up different pairs from year-to-year.
East DivisionWest Division
BelmontAustin Peay
Eastern KentuckyEastern Illinois
Jacksonville StateMurray State
Morehead StateSIU Edwardsville
Tennessee StateSoutheast Missouri
Tennessee TechUT Martin

Sports offered

The Ohio Valley Conference currently offers championship competition in 19 NCAA sanctioned sports, with eight for men, 10 for women, and rifle for men's, women's, and coed teams.
SportMen'sWomen'sCoed
Baseball
11
-
-
Basketball
12
12
-
Beach Volleyball
–
6
–
Cross Country
12
12
-
Football
9
-
-
Golf
11
10
-
Rifle
0
1
4
Soccer
-
11
-
Softball
-
12
-
Tennis
6
9
-
Track and Field
6
11
-
Track and Field
7
11
-
Volleyball
–
12
-

Men's sponsored sports by school

;Notes
;Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools
SchoolSoccerSwimming & DivingRodeoWrestling
BelmontSouthern Conference
---
---
---
Eastern IllinoisSummit LeagueSummit League
---
---
Murray State
---
---
NIRA
---
SIU EdwardsvilleMAC
---
---
MAC
UT Martin
---
---
NIRA
---

;Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

;Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools
SchoolSwimming & DivingRodeo‡GymnasticsEquestrian
Eastern IllinoisSummit League
---
---
---
Murray State
---
NIRA‡
---
---
Southeast Missouri
---
---
MIC
---
UT Martin
---
NIRA‡
---
United Equestrian Conference

Football conference champions

This is a list of the champions since 2000. For the complete history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference football champions.
YearRegular Season ChampionRecordFCS Championship Result
2000Western Kentucky7–0Quarterfinals
2001Eastern Illinois6–1First Round
2002Eastern Illinois
Murray State		5–1First Round
2003Jacksonville State7–1First Round
2004Jacksonville State7–1First Round
2005Eastern Illinois8–0First Round
2006UT Martin
Eastern Illinois		6–1
7–1		First Round
2007Eastern Kentucky8–0First Round
2008Eastern Kentucky7–1First Round
2009Eastern Illinois $6–2First Round
2010Southeast Missouri State7–1Second Round
2011Tennessee Tech $$
Eastern Kentucky
Jacksonville State		6–2
6–2
6–2		First Round
First Round
DNP
2012Eastern Illinois6–1First Round
2013Eastern Illinois8–0Quarterfinals
2014Jacksonville State8–0Second Round
2015Jacksonville State8–0FCS Championship Runner Up
2016Jacksonville State7–0First Round
2017Jacksonville State8–0Second Round
2018Jacksonville State7–1Second Round
2019Austin Peay $$$
Southeast Missouri State		7-1Quarterfinals
First Round

$ – Jacksonville State had the best record in the conference, but was ineligible for the championship due to Academic Progress Rate sanctions.
$$ – Tennessee Tech won the tie-breaker and received the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
$$$ - Austin Peay won the tie-breaker and received the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs

Basketball

This is list of the champions since 2000. For the complete men's history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball champions.

Baseball

This is list of the champions since 2000.
YearRegular Season ChampionOVC
Record		Season
Record		Tournament ChampionOVC
Record		Season
Record
2000Eastern Kentucky18–630–27Middle Tennessee17–639–23
2001Eastern Illinois19–135–20Tennessee Tech12–933–30
2002Southeast Missouri16–537–20Southeast Missouri16–537–20
2003Austin Peay14–5–127–27–1Murray State9–1125–31
2004Austin Peay20–735–21Jacksonville State16–1131–29
2005Jacksonville State19–835–25Austin Peay16–1138–24
2006Samford21–634–25Jacksonville State19–835–24
2007Austin Peay19–840–27Austin Peay19–840–27
2008Jacksonville State23–437–21Eastern Illinois13–1327–30
2009Eastern Illinois #13–531–19Tennessee Tech10–11–131–24–1
2010Tennessee Tech14–631–25Jacksonville State15–832–26
2011Austin Peay17–634–24Austin Peay17–634–24
2012Austin Peay
Eastern Kentucky		19–740–24
31–23		Austin Peay19–740–24
2013Tennessee Tech24–640–17Austin Peay22–747–15
2014Southeast Missouri23–737–20Jacksonville State18–1236–27
2015Southeast Missouri22–836–23Morehead State20–1038–22
2016Southeast Missouri22–839–21Southeast Missouri22–839–21
2017Tennessee Tech23–739–18Tennessee Tech23–739–18
2018Tennessee Tech27-353-12Morehead State18-1237-26

  • # = 2009 Eastern Illinois lost 1 conference and 4 non-conference games by forfeit for using an ineligible player.

    Softball

This is list of the champions since 2000.
YearRegular Season ChampionOVC
Record		Season
Record		Tournament ChampionOVC
Record		Season
Record
2000Middle Tennessee16–539–21Middle Tennessee16–539–21
2001Tennessee Tech17–444–20Tennessee Tech17–444–20
2002Eastern Kentucky16–237–14Eastern Kentucky16–237–14
2003Tennessee Tech17–341–16Tennessee Tech17–341––16
2004Eastern Kentucky22–442–17Eastern Kentucky22––442–17
2005Jacksonville State22–441–16Tennessee Tech16–835–28
2006Tennessee Tech24–250–15Tennessee Tech24–250–15
2007Tennessee Tech20–550–19Tennessee Tech20–550–19
2008Jacksonville State22–440–16Jacksonville State22–440–16
2009Jacksonville State19–243–16UT Martin13–1038–23
2010UT Martin22–347–11Jacksonville State13–630–19
2011Eastern Illinois26–440–12Jacksonville State21–940–21
2012UT Martin23–639–22UT Martin23–639–22
2013East– Eastern Kentucky
West– Eastern Illinois		19–6
20–3		36–20
36–14		Jacksonville State11–1130–27
2014East– Jacksonville State
West– SIUE		22–5
19–5		40–15
30–23		SIUE19–530–23
2015SIUE20–643–16Tennessee Tech15–1133–28
2016Jacksonville State26–043–17Jacksonville State26–043–17
2017Jacksonville State15–141–12Jacksonville State15–141–12
2018Eastern Kentucky19-345-21Jacksonville State16-635-25

Women's soccer

This is a list of Champions since 2000.
YearRegular Season ChampionsTournament Champions
2000Eastern IllinoisTennessee Tech
2001Southeast MissouriEastern Illinois
2002Southeast MissouriEastern Illinois
2003SamfordEastern Illinois
2004SamfordEastern Illinois
2005SamfordSamford
2006SamfordSoutheast Missouri
2007Southeast MissouriSoutheast Missouri
2008Murray StateMorehead State
2009Morehead State, UT MartinMurray State
2010Morehead StateMorehead State
2011Southeast MissouriUT Martin
2012UT MartinUT Martin
2013UT MartinMorehead State
2014Southeast MissouriSIUE
2015Murray StateMurray State
2016Murray StateSIUE
2017Murray StateMurray State
2018UT MartinMurray State

Facilities