The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) 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 partnership with the Big South Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, six of which compete in football in the conference.
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not part of a football conference. This means that FCS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do. As of the 2024 season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart will be competing as independents, as their primary conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, does not sponsor football after previously being members of the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart announced on February 5, 2024 that it would play as an FCS independent in 2024, while Merrimack has yet to receive any affiliate membership invitation as of February 8, 2024.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. Originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978, it was renamed as the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001, and briefly rebranded as the ASUN Conference from 2016 to 2023. The conference still uses "ASUN" as an official abbreviation. The conference headquarters are located in Atlanta.
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.
The Austin Peay Governors men's basketball team represents Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Governors play in the ASUN Conference starting in 2022–23, following 61 seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament to date was in 2016, making the field of 68 by virtue of having won the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament. The Governors' head coach is Corey Gipson.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels football program represents Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in college football, competing at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The school has traditionally had much success on the football field, having won 21 OVC conference titles and two Division I FCS National Championships in 1979 and 1982, and reaching the finals in 1980 and 1981. Much of the success came during the long tenure of head coach Roy Kidd from 1964 to 2002. In 1990, Eastern honored Kidd by naming the school's football stadium Roy Kidd Stadium. Eastern Kentucky's football team was able to secure 31 consecutive winning seasons before finally posting a losing season record in 2009.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located in Richmond, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference since the 2021–22 academic year. Its football team competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which starts play in 2023 as a football-only merger of the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Colonels previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2020–21.
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as members of the United Athletic Conference. The UAC, newly formed for the 2023 season, is a merger of the football leagues of SFA's primary home of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the ASUN Conference. It replaces an alliance between the two conferences that operated in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
The Austin Peay Governors are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Austin Peay State University, located in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. The Governors athletic program is a member of the NCAA Division I ASUN Conference for all sports except football, in which it competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The latter conference starts play in the 2023 season as a football-only merger between two conferences in the second tier of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)—the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference. Before the 2022–23 school year, the Governors were members of another FCS league, the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The 2016–17 Austin Peay Governors basketball team represented Austin Peay State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Governors, led by 27th-year head coach Dave Loos, played their home games at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee and were members of the West Division of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–19, 7–9 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They failed to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
The 2010 Austin Peay Governors football team represented Austin Peay State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Governors were led by fourth-year head coach Rick Christophel and played their home games at Governors Stadium. They finished the season with an overall record of 2–9 and a mark of 1–7 in conference play, placing eighth in the OVC.
The 2019 Austin Peay Governors football team represents Austin Peay State University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Governors, led by first-year head coach Mark Hudspeth, play their home games at Fortera Stadium as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The 2021–22 Austin Peay Governors men's basketball team represented Austin Peay State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Governors, led by first-year head coach Nate James, played their home games at the Winfield Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 12–17, 8–10 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the OVC tournament, they lost to Tennessee Tech in the first round.
Beginning in the 2021–22 academic year, extensive changes occurred in NCAA conference membership, primarily at the Division I level.
The 2022–23 Austin Peay Governors men's basketball team represented Austin Peay State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Governors, led by second-year head coach Nate James, played their home games at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee as first-year members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 9–22, 3–15 in ASUN play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the ASUN tournament.
The 2023 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2023. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2023 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended in June 2023.
The United Athletic Conference (UAC) is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The UAC covers the southwestern, western, and southern United States with member institutions located in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, with a future member located in Georgia.
The Big South–OVC Football Association is an association of football members of the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The Big South–OVC covers the American Midwest and South with member institutions located in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The 2023 Austin Peay Governors football team represented Austin Peay State University as a member of the United Athletic Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Scotty Walden, the Governors played at Fortera Stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee.
