Ohio Valley Conference facts for kids

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. Today, the OVC is 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 school is also the only HBCU with a Division I sports program that plays in a conference that is not made up entirely of such schools.

The OVC's current membership of 12 is the largest in its history.

Members

The OVC has 12 full members. Nine of these schools play football in the OVC; one plays football in another conference; and two do not play football at all. All members are public schools except for the league's newest member, Belmont.

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined	Football member?
Austin Peay State University	Clarksville, Tennessee	1927	Public	Governors & Lady Govs	1962	Y
Belmont University	Nashville, Tennessee	1890	Private	Bruins	2012
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois	1895	Public	Panthers	1996	Y
Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond, Kentucky	1906	Public	Colonels	1948	Y
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1883	Public	Gamecocks	2003	Y
Morehead State University	Morehead, Kentucky	1922	Public	Eagles	1948
Murray State University	Murray, Kentucky	1922	Public	Racers	1948	Y
SIU Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIU Edwardsville)	Edwardsville, Illinois	1966	Public	Cougars	2008
Southeast Missouri State University	Cape Girardeau, Missouri	1873	Public	Redhawks	1991	Y
Tennessee State University	Nashville, Tennessee	1912	Public	Tigers & Lady Tigers	1986	Y
Tennessee Technological University	Cookeville, Tennessee	1912	Public	Golden Eagles	1949	Y
UT Martin University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin)	Martin, Tennessee	1927	Public	Skyhawks	1992	Y

Associate members

The OVC has one "associate" member—i.e., a school that plays a sport in the OVC that its main conference does not sponsor.

Former members

Nine schools have been full members, but are no longer in the league.

See also

In Spanish: Ohio Valley Conference para niños