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 Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, 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 (Tennessee State) as a member. 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. A year later, three more members left, with Austin Peay moving to the ASUN, and founding member Murray State and Belmont joining the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). However, since the MVC does not play football, Murray State played 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.) Murray State remained a member in rifle after it otherwise left the OVC.

The OVC responded by adding three new members in 2022 and one in 2023. 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. The other new members started transitions from NCAA Division II. Lindenwood University plays football; the University of Southern Indiana does not. In 2023, Western Illinois University joined from the Summit League for almost all of its sports. It kept football in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and men's soccer in the Summit League for the 2023–24 school year, and will move both sports to the OVC in 2024.

In February 2022, the OVC and Big South announced they would merge their football leagues after the 2022 season. The merged entity was later unveiled as the Big South–OVC Football Association, technically an alliance between the two conferences instead of a full merger of the football leagues. The alliance has a single automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. 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.

Members
The OVC has 11 full members. Seven of these schools play football in the Big South–OVC alliance, one plays football in another conference, and three do not play football at all. All members are public schools except for 2022 arrival Lindenwood.

 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Joined  Football member? Eastern Illinois University  Charleston, Illinois  1895  Public  Panthers  1996   (Little Rock)  Little Rock, Arkansas  1927  Public  Trojans  2022   Lindenwood University    1827  Private  Lions  2022   Morehead State University  Morehead, Kentucky  1922  Public  Eagles  1948   (SIU Edwardsville)  Edwardsville, Illinois  1966  Public  Cougars  2008   Southeast Missouri State University  Cape Girardeau, Missouri  1873  Public  Redhawks  1991     Evansville, Indiana  1965  Public  Screaming Eagles  2022   Tennessee State University  Nashville, Tennessee  1912  Public  Tigers &Lady Tigers  1986   Tennessee Technological University  Cookeville, Tennessee  1912  Public  Golden Eagles  1949   (UT Martin)  Martin, Tennessee  1927  Public  Skyhawks  1992   Western Illinois University  Macomb, Illinois  1899  Public  Leathernecks  2023 (most sports)2024 (football and men's soccer)  

Associate members
The OVC now has five "associate" members—i.e., schools that play a small number of sports in the conference, usually one. The most recent change to the associate membership was the 2024 departure of Chicago State, which was a member in man's and women's golf plus men's soccer. It joined the Northeast Conference, which sponsors all of the named sports.

 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  OVC sport(s)  Joined  Main conference (Chattanooga)  Chattanooga, Tennessee  1886  Public  Mocs  Beach volleyball  2019  SoCon Houston Christian University  Houston, Texas  1960  Private  Huskies  Men's soccer  2023  Southland   San Antonio, Texas  1881  Private  Cardinals  Men's soccer  2023  Southland Liberty University  Lynchburg, Virginia  1971  Private  Flames  Men's soccer  2023  CUSA Murray State University  Murray, Kentucky  1922  Public  Racers  Rifle  2022  MVC

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

 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Joined  Left  Current conference   Akron, Ohio  1870  Public  Zips  1980  1987  MAC Austin Peay State University  Clarksville, Tennessee  1927  Public  Governors  1962  2022  ASUN Belmont University  Nashville, Tennessee  1890  Private  Bruins  2012  2022  MVC East Tennessee State University  Johnson City, Tennessee  1911  Public  Buccaneers  1958  1978  SoCon Eastern Kentucky University  Richmond, Kentucky  1906  Public  Colonels  1948  2021  ASUN   Evansville, Indiana  1854  Private  Purple Aces  1948  1952  MVC Jacksonville State University  Jacksonville, Alabama  1883  Public  Gamecocks  2003  2021  CUSA   Louisville, Kentucky  1798  Public  Cardinals  1948  1949  ACC Marshall University  Huntington, West Virginia  1837  Public  Thundering Herd  1949  1952  Sun Belt Middle Tennessee State University  Murfreesboro, Tennessee  1911  Public  Blue Raiders  1952  2000  CUSA Murray State University  Murray, Kentucky  1922  Public  Racers  1948  2022  MVC Samford University  Homewood, Alabama  1841  Private  Bulldogs  2003  2008  SoCon Western Kentucky University  Bowling Green, Kentucky  1906  Public  Hilltoppers &Lady Toppers  1948  1982  CUSA Youngstown State University  Youngstown, Ohio  1906  Public  Penguins  1981  1988  Horizon LeagueMVFC (football)

Former associate members
The OVC has had one prior associate member that left when it folded its only OVC sports team. A second school was an OVC associate in two sports in 2022–23, but now only houses one sport in the OVC. Another school housed three sports in the OVC in 2023–24, leaving when it joined a conference that sponsored all of those sports.
 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  OVC sport(s)  Joined  Left  Main conference  Conference in formerOVC sport Chicago State University  Chicago, Illinois  1867  Public  Cougars  Women's golfMen's soccer  2023  2024  Northeast Conference Columbus State University  Columbus, Georgia  1958  Public  Cougars  Rifle  2012  2015  Peach Belt (Div. II)  None (dropped rifle in 2015) Murray State University  Murray, Kentucky  1922  Public  Racers  Football  2022  2023  MVC  MVFC

References


Category:NCAA Division I athletics conferences
Category:1948 establishments in the United States