Ohio Valley Conference
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| Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) |
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| Established: 1948 | |
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| NCAA | Division I FCS |
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| Members | 11 |
| Sports fielded | 17 (men's: 8; women's: 9) |
| Region | Midwest and South |
| Headquarters | Brentwood, Tennessee |
| Commissioner | Beth DeBauche (since 2009) |
| Website | http://www.ovcsports.com |
| Locations | |
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The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a college 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 (FCS; formerly known as Division I-AA), the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, 9 of which (as of the 2008 season) compete in football in the conference.
Historically, OVC was a pioneer in racial desegregation. During times of racial segregation, league member Morehead State became one of the first non-traditionally black mid-southern institutions to accept a black student. In 1958, Marshall Banks received athletically-related aid at Morehead, which signed a second black athlete, Howard Murphy, a year later. In 1961, Murphy earned all-conference recognition as a halfback in football. With racial barriers broken, the rest of the institutions in the league began to provide educational and athletic opportunities to African-Americans.[1]
Today, the OVC is unique among NCAA Division I conferences in that it includes one historically black university, Tennessee State University, in a conference that otherwise consists of non-traditionally black institutions. Of the other HBCUs in NCAA Division I, all but two are members of the MEAC or SWAC, conferences made up entirely of HBCUs. The other two HBCUs in Division I are not currently affiliated with any conference, but one (North Carolina Central University) is scheduled to join the MEAC in 2010, and the other (Savannah State University) has applied to join that conference.
In the wake of Title IX, the OVC established women's championships in the sports of basketball, tennis and track in 1977, with cross country and volleyball added over the next four years. Those sports were initially governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, but were continued when the NCAA became the governing body in 1982.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Member schools
- † SIU Edwardsville is a full member but will not play a conference schedule until 2010-2011.
[edit] Former members
- Samford University (Southern Conference), 2003–2008
- Youngstown State University (Horizon League/Missouri Valley Football Conference) 1981–1992 (1981–1987 for football)
- Middle Tennessee State University (Sun Belt Conference) 1952–2000
- University of Louisville (Big East Conference) 1948–1949[1]
- Western Kentucky University (Sun Belt Conference) 1948–1982, 1999-2000 (football only)[2]
- University of Evansville[1] (Missouri Valley Conference) 1948–1952
- University of Akron (Mid-American Conference) 1980–1987[3]
- East Tennessee State University (Atlantic Sun Conference) 1958-1978
- Marshall University (Conference USA) 1949-1952 [4]
[edit] Sports offered
The Ohio Valley Conference currently offers 17 sports, 8 for men and 9 for women.
- Men's sports
- Women's sports
[edit] Conference Champions
[edit] Football conference champions
| Season | Champion | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Murray State | 3–1–0 |
| 1949 | Evansville | 3–1–1 |
| 1950 | Murray State | 5–0–1 |
| 1951 | Murray State | 5–1–0 |
| 1952 | Tennessee Tech | 4–1–0 |
| Western Kentucky | 4–1–0 | |
| 1953 | Tennessee Tech | 5–0–0 |
| 1954 | Eastern Kentucky | 5–0–0 |
| 1955 | Tennessee Tech | 5–0–0 |
| 1956 | Middle Tennessee State | 5–0–0 |
| 1957 | Middle Tennessee State | 5–0–0 |
| 1958 | Middle Tennessee State | 5–1–0 |
| Tennessee Tech | 5–1–0 | |
| 1959 | Middle Tennessee State | 5–0–1 |
| Tennessee Tech | 5–0–1 | |
| 1960 | Tennessee Tech | 6–0–0 |
| 1961 | Tennessee Tech | 6–0–0 |
| 1962 | East Tennessee State | 4–2–0 |
| 1963 | Western Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1964 | Middle Tennessee State | 6–1–0 |
| 1965 | Middle Tennessee State | 7–0–0 |
| 1966 | Morehead State | 6–1–0 |
| 1967 | Eastern Kentucky | 5–0–2 |
| 1968 | Eastern Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1969 | East Tennessee State | 6–0–1 |
| 1970 | Western Kentucky | 5–1–1 |
| 1971 | Western Kentucky | 5–2–0 |
| 1972 | Tennessee Tech | 7–0–0 |
| 1973 | Western Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1974 | Eastern Kentucky | 6–1–0 |
| 1975 | Tennessee Tech | 6–1–0 |
| Western Kentucky | 6–1–0 | |
| 1976 | Eastern Kentucky | 6–1–0 |
| 1977 | Austin Peay State | 6–1–0 |
| 1978 | Western Kentucky | 6–0–0 |
| 1979 | Murray State | 6–0–0 |
| 1980 | Western Kentucky | 6–1–0 |
| 1981 | Eastern Kentucky | 8–0–0 |
| 1982 | Eastern Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1983 | Eastern Kentucky | 6–1–0 |
| 1984 | Eastern Kentucky | 6–1–0 |
| 1985 | Middle Tennessee State | 7–0–0 |
| 1986 | Murray State | 5–2–0 |
| 1987 | Eastern Kentucky | 5–1–0 |
| Youngstown State | 5–1–0 | |
| 1988 | Eastern Kentucky | 6–0–0 |
| 1989 | Middle Tennessee State | 6–0–0 |
| 1990 | Eastern Kentucky | 5–1–0 |
| Middle Tennessee State | 5–1–0 | |
| 1991 | Eastern Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1992 | Middle Tennessee State | 8–0–0 |
| 1993 | Eastern Kentucky | 8–0–0 |
| 1994 | Eastern Kentucky | 8–0–0 |
| 1995 | Murray State | 8–0–0 |
| 1996 | Murray State | 8–0–0 |
| 1997 | Eastern Kentucky | 7–0–0 |
| 1998 | Tennessee State | 6–1 |
| 1999 | Tennessee State | 7–0 |
| 2000 | Western Kentucky | 7–0 |
| 2001 | Eastern Illinois | 6–1 |
| 2002 | Eastern Illinois | 5–1 |
| Murray State | 5–1 | |
| 2003 | Jacksonville State | 7–1 |
| 2004 | Jacksonville State | 7–1 |
| 2005 | Eastern Illinois | 8–0 |
| 2006 | UT Martin | 6–1 |
| Eastern Illinois | 7–1 | |
| 2007 | Eastern Kentucky | 8–0 |
| 2008 | Eastern Kentucky | 7–1 |
| 2009 | Eastern Illinois $ | 6–2 |
$ - Jacksonville State (6-1) had the best record in the conference, but was ineligible for the championship due to APR sanctions.
[edit] Men's basketball
This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the complete history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball champions.
| Year | Regular Season Champion | Record | Tournament Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Southeast Missouri State Murray State |
14–4 | Southeast Missouri State |
| 2000–01 | Tennessee Tech | 13–3 | Eastern Illinois |
| 2001–02 | Tennesse Tech | 15–1 | Murray State |
| 2002–03 | Austin Peay Morehead State |
13-3 | Austin Peay |
| 2003–04 | Austin Peay | 16–0 | Murray State |
| 2004–05 | Tennessee Tech | 12–4 | Eastern Kentucky |
| 2005–06 | Murray State | 17-3 | Murray State |
| 2006–07 | Austin Peay | 16–4 | Eastern Kentucky |
| 2007–08 | Austin Peay | 16–4 | Austin Peay Tournament |
| 2008–09 | UT Martin | 14-4 | Morehead State Tournament |
[edit] Conference facilities
| School | Football stadium | Basketball arena | Baseball stadium | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Capacity | Name | Capacity | Name | Capacity | |
| Austin Peay | Governors Stadium | 10,000 | Dunn Center | 9,000 | Raymond C. Hand Park | 1,000 |
| Eastern Illinois | O'Brien Stadium | 10,000 | Lantz Arena | 5,300 | Coaches Stadium | 500 |
| Eastern Kentucky | Roy Kidd Stadium | 20,000 | Alumni Coliseum | 6,300 | Turkey Hughes Field | N/A |
| Jacksonville State | Paul Snow Stadium | 15,000 | Pete Mathews Coliseum | 5,800 | Rudy Abbott Field | 1,000 |
| Morehead State | Jayne Stadium | 10,000 | Ellis Johnson Arena | 6,500 | John "Sonny" Allen Field | 1,200 |
| Murray State | Roy Stewart Stadium | 16,800 | Regional Special Events Center | 8,602 | Johnny Reagan Field | N/A |
| Southeast Missouri State | Houck Stadium | 11,015 | Show Me Center | 6,972 | Capaha Park | N/A |
| SIU-Edwardsville | Non-Football School | N/A | Vadalabene Center | 4,000 | SimmonsCooper Complex | N/A |
| UT Martin | Graham Stadium | 8,000 | Skyhawk Arena | 7,000 | Skyhawk Baseball Field | 1,000 |
| Tennessee State | LP Field | 68,000 | Gentry Complex | 10,500 | Non-Baseball School | N/A |
| Tennessee Tech | Tucker Stadium | 16,500 | Eblen Center | 10,152 | Bush Stadium | 1,500 |
[edit] Notes
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 competed in the Pioneer League for the 2001–2005 seasons, then became an independent for the 2006 season, and returned to OVC football competition in 2007.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Ohio Valley Conference History - OVCSports.com—Official Web Site of the Ohio Valley Conference
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Kentucky_University#Athletics
- ^ "University of Akron Athletics History". www.gozips.com. University of Akron. http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10800&ATCLID=323403. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ "Conference Standings and Champions". http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/DI/2008/Pages%20427-441%20-%202007%20Standings.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
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