Ohio Valley Conference

Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)
Established	1948
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I FCS
Members	12
Sports fielded	17 (men's: 8; women's: 9)
Region	Midwest and South
Headquarters	Brentwood, Tennessee
Commissioner	Beth DeBauche (since 2009)
Website	ovcsports.com
Locations

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 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. 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 institutions that are not traditionally black. All other HBCUs in NCAA Division I are members of either the MEAC or SWAC, conferences made up entirely of HBCUs.

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 five female commissioners for the thirty-two Division I conferences.

Athletic rivalries, 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 (for each sport), 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 it had been in place since 2006.

Member schools

Full members

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Endowment	Joined	Football Member?	Nickname	Colors
Austin Peay State University	Clarksville, Tennessee (132,929)	1927	Public	9,192	$6.818 million	1962	Y	Governors (men's) Lady Govs (women's)	Red & White
Belmont University	Nashville, Tennessee (601,222)	1890	Private/ Non-denominational	6,647	$76.978 million	2012	N	Bruins	Navy & Red
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois (21,838)	1895	Public	11,651	$56.592 million	1996	Y	Panthers	Blue & Gray
Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond, Kentucky (31,364)	1906	Public	16,183	$48.65 million	1948	Y	Colonels (men's) Lady Colonels (women's)	Maroon & White
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama (12,548)	1883	Public	9,504	$9.9 million	2003	Y	Gamecocks	Red & White
Morehead State University	Morehead, Kentucky (6,845)	1922	Public	9,509	$22.5 million	1948	NNote	Eagles	Blue & Gold
Murray State University	Murray, Kentucky (17,741)	1922	Public	10,832	$32.8 million	1948	Y	Racers	Navy & Gold
Southeast Missouri State University	Cape Girardeau, Missouri (37,941)	1873	Public	9,615	$28 million	1991	Y	Redhawks	Red & Black
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville, Illinois (24,293)	1957	Public	14,055	$16.351 million	2008	N	Cougars	Red & White
Tennessee State University	Nashville, Tennessee (601,222)	1912	Public	10,450	$28.8 million	1986	Y	Tigers (men's) Lady Tigers (women's)	Blue & White
Tennessee Technological University	Cookeville, Tennessee (30,435)	1912	Public	9,217	$58.78 million	1949	Y	Golden Eagles	Purple & Gold
University of Tennessee at Martin	Martin, Tennessee (11,473)	1927	Public	7,913	$27.2 million	1992	Y	Skyhawks	Navy, Orange & White

Note = 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.

Locations of current Ohio Valley Conference full member institutions.

Associate members

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	OVC Sport
Columbus State University	Columbus, Georgia (189,885)	1958	Public	8,298	Cougars	Peach Belt	Rifle

Former members

Institution	Location (Population)	Nickname	Joined	Left	New Conference	Current Conference	Classification
University of Akron	Akron, Ohio (199,110)	Zips	1980	1987	NCAA D-I Independent	Mid-American (MAC)	Division I FBS
East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, Tennessee (63,152)	Buccaneers	1958	1978	SoCon	Atlantic Sun (A-Sun)	Division I Non-football
University of Evansville	Evansville, Indiana (117,429)	Purple Aces	1948	1952	ICC (NCAA Division II)	Missouri Valley	Division I Non-football
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky (746,906)	Cardinals	1948	1949	NCAA Independent	Big East (AAC in 2013, ACC in 2014)	Division I FBS
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia (49,253)	Thundering Herd	1949	1952	NCAA Independent2	C-USA	Division I FBS
Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee (108,755)	Blue Raiders	1952	2000	Sun Belt (C-USA in 2013)		Division I FBS
Samford University	Homewood, Alabama (25,167)	Bulldogs	2003	2008	Southern		Division I FCS
Western Kentucky University1	Bowling Green, Kentucky (58,067)	Hilltoppers	1948	1982	Sun Belt (C-USA in 2014)		Division I FBS
Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio (66,982)	Penguins	1981	1988	Mid-Continent NCAA I-AA Independent (football)	Horizon MVFC (football)	Division I FCS

Notes

1. Western Kentucky rejoined the OVC for football only from the 1999–2000 to the 2000–01 academic seasons.
2. Marshall left the OVC to become an Independent for 1 year prior to joining the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Membership timeline

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 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 reentering OVC football competition in 2007.

Conference Divisions

Starting with the 2012-13 school year, the twelve member schools are divided into two divisions for those sports in which all compete:

• EAST DIVISION
  • Belmont
  • Eastern Kentucky
  • Jacksonville State
  • Morehead State
  • Tennessee State
  • Tennessee Tech

• WEST DIVISION
  • Austin Peay
  • Eastern Illinois
  • Murray State
  • Southeast Missouri
  • SIU Edwardsville
  • UT Martin

Sports offered

The Ohio Valley Conference currently offers championship competition in eighteen NCAA sanctioned sports, eight for men, nine for women, and rifle for men's, women's, and coed teams. Columbus State is an Associate member for rifle.

Teams in OVC competition

Sport	Men's	Women's	Mixed
Baseball	11	-	-
Basketball	12	12	-
Cross Country	12	12	-
Football	9	-	-
Golf	11	10	-
Rifle	0	1	5
Soccer	-	11	-
Softball	-	12	-
Tennis	11	11	-
Track and Field (Indoor)	6	10	-
Track and Field (Outdoor)	7	11	-
Volleyball	-	12	-

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Rifle*	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total OVC Sports
Austin Peay	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
Belmont	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Eastern Illinois	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Eastern Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Jacksonville State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	N	N	7
Morehead State	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y*	Y	N	Y	7
Murray State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	N	N	7
Southeast Missouri	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	6
SIU Edwardsville	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Tennessee State	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Tennessee Tech	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
UT-Martin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	N	N	8
Totals	11	12	12	9	11	5	11	6	7	84

• * = Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. All competing OVC schools have coed teams, and Tennessee-Martin has both a women's and a coed team.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools:

School	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Rodeo*	Wrestling
Belmont	Independent	---	---	---
Eastern Illinois	Summit League	Summit League	---	---
Murray State	---	---	NIRA*	---
SIU Edwardsville	Missouri Valley	---	---	Southern
UT-Martin	---	---	NIRA*	---

• * = Rodeo is sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), not the NCAA.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Rifle*	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total OVC Sports
Austin Peay	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Belmont	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Eastern Illinois	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Eastern Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Jacksonville State	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Morehead State	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
Murray State	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Southeast Missouri	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
SIU Edwardsville	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Tennessee State	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Tennessee Tech	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
UT-Martin	Y	Y	N	Y*	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	8
Totals	12	12	10	6	11	12	11	10	11	12	107

• * = Rifle is technically a men's sport, but men's, women's, and coed teams all compete against each other. All competing OVC schools have coed teams, and Tennessee-Martin has both a women's and a coed team.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools:

School	Swimming & Diving	Rugby	Rodeo*	Gymnastics	Equestrian
Eastern Illinois	Summit League	Independent	---	---	---
Murray State	---	---	NIRA*	---	---
Southeast Missouri	---	---	---	Independent	---
UT-Martin	---	---	NIRA*	---	Independent

• * = Rodeo is sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), not the NCAA.

Conference champions

Football conference champions

This is a list of the champions since 2000. For the complete history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference football champions.

Year	Regular Season Champion	Record	FCS Championship Result
2000	Western Kentucky	7–0	Quarterfinals
2001	Eastern Illinois	6–1	First Round
2002	Eastern Illinois Murray State	5–1	First Round
2003	Jacksonville State	7–1	First Round
2004	Jacksonville State	7–1	First Round
2005	Eastern Illinois	8–0	First Round
2006	UT Martin Eastern Illinois	6–1 7–1	First Round
2007	Eastern Kentucky	8–0	First Round
2008	Eastern Kentucky	7–1	First Round
2009	Eastern Illinois $	6–2	First Round
2010	Southeast Missouri State	7–1	First Round
2011	Tennessee Tech $$ Eastern Kentucky Jacksonville State	6–2 6–2 6–2	First Round First Round DNP
2012	Eastern Illinois	6–1	First Round

$ – Jacksonville State (6–1) 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.

Men's basketball

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

Year	Regular Season Champion	Record	Tournament Champion
2001–02	Tennessee 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
2009–10	Murray State	17–1	Murray State Tournament
2010–11	Murray State	14–4	Morehead State Tournament
2011–12	Murray State	15–1	Murray State Tournament
2012–13	East: Belmont West: Murray State	14–2 10-6	Belmont Tournament

Facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity
Austin Peay	Governors Stadium	10,000	Dunn Center	9,000	Raymond C. Hand Park	1,000
Belmont	Non-football school		Curb Event Center	5,085	E. S. Rose Park	N/A
Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Stadium	10,000	Lantz Arena	5,300	Coaches Stadium at Monier Field	500
Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium	20,000	Alumni Coliseum	6,300	Turkey Hughes Field	N/A
Jacksonville State	JSU Stadium	24,000	Pete Mathews Coliseum	5,800	Rudy Abbott Field	1,000
Morehead State	Jayne StadiumNote	10,000	Ellis Johnson Arena	6,500	John "Sonny" Allen Field	1,200
Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium	16,800	CFSB Center	8,825	Johnny Reagan Field	800
Southeast Missouri State	Houck Stadium	11,015	Show Me Center	6,972	Capaha Field	2,000
SIU-Edwardsville	Non-football school		Vadalabene Center	4,000	Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex	1,000
UT Martin	Graham Stadium	8,000	Skyhawk Arena	5,000	Skyhawk Park	N/A
Tennessee State	LP Field	68,000	Gentry Complex	10,500	Non-baseball school
Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium	16,500	Eblen Center	9,280	Bush Stadium at Averitt Express Baseball Complex	1,100

External links

• OVC website
• OVC Digital website