Ohio Valley Conference

The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is an American college sports conference that plays in the NCAA Division I. In football, the OVC is part of Division I FCS, the lower of two levels of Division I football. The member universities and colleges are in Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. The OVC has its offices in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee.

History

The OVC grew out of talks between officials at three Kentucky schools—Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, and Western Kentucky—in 1941. America's entry into World War II later that year put these talks on hold for several years. Later, in 1948, the three original schools joined with two other Kentucky schools, plus one in Indiana, to form the conference.

It was one of the first conferences with a presence in the South to accept black athletes at historically white-only schools, with Morehead State being the first OVC member to do so in 1958. The OVC was long notable as being the only conference made up of traditionally white schools to have a historically black university (HBCU) as a member, namely Tennessee State. That changed when Hampton and North Carolina A&T left the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for the Big South Conference, respectively in 2018 and 2021. (Both moved together to the Colonial Athletic Association in 2022.)

The OVC has had major membership changes in recent years. In 2021, it lost founding member Eastern Kentucky, plus Jacksonville State, to the ASUN Conference.[1] A year later, three more members left, with Austin Peay moving to the ASUN,[2] and founding member Murray State[3] and Belmont[4] joining the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). However, since the MVC does not play football, Murray State will play the 2022 football season in the OVC before moving the football team to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. (The MVFC is separate from, but closely related to, the MVC.)[5] Murray State will remain a member in rifle after it otherwise leaves the OVC.

The OVC responded by adding three new members in 2022. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, athletically known as Little Rock, joined from the Sun Belt Conference. It does not have a football team.[6] The other new members started transitions from NCAA Division II. Lindenwood University plays football;[7] the University of Southern Indiana does not.[8]

In February 2022, the OVC and Big South announced they would merge their football leagues after the 2022 season. The conferences have not announced whether the merged league will be operated by one conference or the other, or become fully separate.[9] Also, shortly after the 2022 membership changes took effect, the OVC and Horizon League merged their men's tennis leagues under the Horizon's banner.[10]

Members

The OVC has 10 full members. Six of these schools play football in the OVC; one plays football in another conference; and three do not play football at all. All members are public schools except for 2022 arrival Lindenwood.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedFootball member?
Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, Illinois1895PublicPanthers1996Green tickY
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
(Little Rock)
Little Rock, Arkansas1927PublicTrojans2022Red XN
Lindenwood UniversitySt. Charles, Missouri1827PrivateLions2022Green tickY
Morehead State UniversityMorehead, Kentucky1922PublicEagles1948Red XN[lower-alpha 1]
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
(SIU Edwardsville)
Edwardsville, Illinois1966PublicCougars2008Red XN
Southeast Missouri State UniversityCape Girardeau, Missouri1873PublicRedhawks1991Green tickY
University of Southern IndianaEvansville, Indiana[lower-alpha 2]1965PublicScreaming Eagles2022Red XN
Tennessee State UniversityNashville, Tennessee1912PublicTigers &
Lady Tigers
1986Green tickY
Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville, Tennessee1912PublicGolden Eagles1949Green tickY
University of Tennessee at Martin
(UT Martin)
Martin, Tennessee1927PublicSkyhawks1992Green tickY
  1. Morehead State has a football team, but it plays in the Pioneer Football League instead of the OVC.
  2. Postal address; the campus actually lies in unincorporated Vanderburgh County.

Associate members

The OVC now has two "associate" members—i.e., schools that play a small number of sports in the conference, usually one.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameOVC sport(s)JoinedMain conference
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
(Chattanooga)
Chattanooga, Tennessee1886PublicMocsBeach volleyball2019SoCon
Murray State UniversityMurray, Kentucky1922PublicRacersFootball[lower-alpha 1]
Rifle
2022MVC

Four more schools will become associate members in July 2023. All will join for men's soccer, which the OVC will sponsor for the first time in fall 2023. One of these schools will also join for men's and women's golf. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2023–24 school year.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameOVC sport(s)JoiningMain conference
Chicago State UniversityChicago, Illinois1867PublicCougarsMen's and women's golf
Men's soccer
2023Independent
Houston Christian UniversityHouston, Texas1960PrivateHuskiesMen's soccer2023Southland
University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio, Texas1881PrivateCardinalsMen's soccer2023Southland
Liberty UniversityLynchburg, Virginia1971PrivateFlames[lower-alpha 2]Men's soccer2023C-USA
  1. The football team will play in the OVC in 2022 before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023.
  2. While Liberty uses "Lady Flames" as the nickname for women's teams, only men's soccer is an OVC member.

Former members

Fourteen schools have been full members, but are no longer in the league. As noted earlier, former full member Murray State remains an OVC associate member.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedLeftCurrent conference
University of AkronAkron, Ohio1870PublicZips19801987MAC
Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, Tennessee1927PublicGovernors1962[lower-alpha 1]2022ASUN
Belmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee1890PrivateBruins20122022MVC
East Tennessee State UniversityJohnson City, Tennessee1911PublicBuccaneers19581978SoCon
Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond, Kentucky1906PublicColonels19482021ASUN
University of EvansvilleEvansville, Indiana1854PrivatePurple Aces19481952MVC
Jacksonville State UniversityJacksonville, Alabama1883PublicGamecocks20032021ASUN
(C-USA in 2023)
University of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky1798PublicCardinals19481949ACC
Marshall UniversityHuntington, West Virginia1837PublicThundering Herd19491952Sun Belt
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMurfreesboro, Tennessee1911PublicBlue Raiders19522000C-USA
Murray State UniversityMurray, Kentucky1922PublicRacers19482022MVC
Samford UniversityHomewood, Alabama1841PrivateBulldogs20032008SoCon
Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, Kentucky1906PublicHilltoppers &
Lady Toppers
19481982[lower-alpha 2]C-USA
Youngstown State UniversityYoungstown, Ohio1906PublicPenguins19811988Horizon League
MVFC (football)
  1. Austin Peay's football team left the OVC in 1997, but the school stayed in the OVC for other sports. The football team returned in 2007.
  2. Western Kentucky's football team returned to the OVC for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

Former associate members

The OVC had one associate member in the past, but that school left when it folded its only OVC sports team.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameOVC sport(s)JoinedLeftMain conferenceConference in former
OVC sport
Columbus State UniversityColumbus, Georgia1958PublicCougarsRifle20122015Peach Belt (Div. II)None (dropped rifle in 2015)

References

  • "OVC History". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  1. "ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport" (Press release). ASUN Conference. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  2. "ASUN Conference Welcomes Austin Peay State University as its Newest Member" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 17, 2021.
  3. "Murray State University Joins The Missouri Valley Conference" (Press release). Murray State Racers. January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  4. "Belmont University to Join Missouri Valley Conference" (Press release). Belmont Bruins. September 28, 2021. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  5. "Murray State Football To Join Missouri Valley Football Conference July of 2023" (Press release). Missouri Valley Football Conference. April 4, 2022. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  6. "Little Rock Receives Board Approval to Join Ohio Valley Conference" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  7. "Lindenwood University to Join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  8. "University of Southern Indiana to Join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  9. "Big South and Ohio Valley Conference Announce Football Agreement" (Press release). Big South Conference. February 22, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  10. "Horizon League Announces Innovative Partnership with Ohio Valley Conference and Men's Tennis Programs, Adds Chicago State as an Affiliate Member for Men's and Women's Tennis" (Press release). Horizon League. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
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