The CAA’s move to become a 13 team superconference begs a different question for the FCS – what if that’s the only way forward for any number of smaller FCS conferences? Are we on the brink of a new era, where five, six, and seven member conferences are a thing of the past?
The OVC is currently paced by UT Martin which has won all four of its conference games this season.
Polls and rankings make for good fodder at the water cooler and between rival fan bases, but the fact remains trying to rank teams still remains nothing but a guess.
Proof of that be seen by simply taking a look at the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll and comparing it against where those same teams sit in the league standings as the regular season heads into the final three weeks of play.
If you weren’t following the key FCS Playoff matchups last week involving the playoffs, boy did you miss out!
Check out highlights of last week’s big games, and check out out CSJ composite playoff bracket, bubble team of the week, and playoff implication game of the week as well.
The meat of the Ohio Valley Conference season begins this weekend and despite some unique scheduling, the results involving all seven league members should provide a glimpse of what to expect as the season continues to draw to a close in less than one month.
With Halloween looming on the horizon what has already taken place in the Ohio Valley Conference football landscape has been downright ghoulish compared to recent seasons.
The way the Ohio Valley Conference standings look heading into the sixth week of the season are likely not to be the same way the ledger will look when the dust settles on the regular season.
Now that most of the fun and games are a thing of the past, things begin to heat up in the Ohio Valley Conference as plenty is already at stake as Week 5 prepares to get underway.
After three weeks off taking on some very formidable foes at the FBS and FCS levels with a mixed bag of results, most of the Ohio Valley Conference teams jump into league play this weekend as the hunt for a postseason berth begins in earnest.
The final weekend of non-conference action is on tap this weekend for all seven Ohio Valley Conference teams as they prepare the annual grind toward a conference championship on Sept. 25.
UT Martin was the only Ohio Valley Conference team to snag a win in Week Two of the 2021 college football season.
OVC Game of the Week: Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic, Tennessee State (0-0 OVC, 0-0 Overall) vs. Grambling (0-0 SWAC, 0-0 Overall) (at Canton, OH)
The Panthers and Sycamores began their rivalry in 1901 and Saturday’s game will be the 88th meeting between the two schools. Eastern Illinois holds a narrow 43-40-4 advantage in the series to date.
“What a time this is to be a football fan,” Eastern Illinois coach Adam Cushing said. “We have a second season … two football seasons in one calendar year.”
The Govs look to challenge for the top spot in the league.
Returning all 22 starters from the previous season is something rarely seen in college football. Couple that with the fact a new coach got those 22 players to perform at a high level in their first season together only fuels the excitement in southern Kentucky this season.
In the boot hill of the Show-Me State, Southeast Missouri State has the potential to sweep through the OVC. Just ask SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz.
The Skyhawks find themselves sitting in the middle of the OVC preseason poll. And that’s a pretty good sport since there are some question marks surrounding UT as the start of fall camp looms on the horizon.
Three of Tech’s setbacks were by a combined 16 points. Now the Golden Eagles think they have something to prove to those naysayers.
While one NFL hall of famer continues to cherish the sound of his own voice on a daily basis as he looks to become known as a successful coach, another, even more successful collegiate player, begins his coaching career not far from where he earned his spot in Canton.
Eastern Illinois has every reason to believe things will return to normal in Charleston and that the Panthers will once again become a force in the FCS. But it’s going to take some baby steps and 2021 will likely not be the year it happens.
Find everything you need to know about this weekend’s FCS Playoff games and the SWAC Championship, including full previews, and our staff’s predictions on how the games are going to go.
This game may be for the birds, but it will certainly not be for the faint of heart and it certainly has all the earmarks of an instant classic.
Jacksonville State, the No. 4 seed in this year’s playoffs, will play host to Davidson, the Pioneer League champion, in one of eight first-round games. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Gamecocks and Wildcats.
OVC Title hopes and an autobid are on the line in Murray, KY this Sunday.
As the calendar turns to April with the promise of flowers blooming soon, plenty must first be settled on the football field as the contenders for the FCS playoffs begin to rise to the top.
A full Sunday of OVC action is going on today.
Depending on what happens there could be as many as five teams with one loss by the end of the day and making the second half of the spring schedule even more critical with a smaller playoff field this spring.
Three games that were scheduled for the opening weekend were postponed because of a massive winter storm that hit much of the nation. Now, two weeks later those three contests are set to be played.
This week we welcome the SWAC, Big Sky, and Big South to the wonderful world of spring FCS football, to go with the Missouri Valley, SoCon and OVC, who started their spring conference slates last week, and Tarleton State, who spent their time crushing FBS New Mexico State 43-17.
Only one of four games scheduled to kick off the 2021 spring season in the Ohio Valley Conference was actually played out last weekend, thanks to storms that hit a big part of the Mid-South. With any luck things will return to a semblance of normalcy as four games are slated to be played Sunday.
Five players including RB Quay Holmes from East Tennessee State, RB Pierre Strong Jr. from South Dakota State, QB Cameron Burston from Tarleton State, Devon Krzanowski from North Dakota, and Hayden Olsen from Tennessee Tech have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Dec. 14, 2020 from the NCAA Division I FBS Group of Five schools.
The CSJ writing staff answer the questions many of us have about the beginning of this unprecedented FCS season.
The Ohio Valley Conference, which will use a seven game-game round robin schedule for the eight schools taking part in the spring season, is expected to begin play the weekend of Feb. 21 as the spring season is scheduled to get underway.
The 2021 spring college football season is right around the corner and media members from across the country have selected the 2021 BOXTOROW HBCU Preseason Spring Football All-America Team.
The National Football Foundation (NFF) highlighted today the more than 310 schools and 35 conferences playing college football this spring at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA levels. FBS independent New Mexico State will also play games this spring.
Austin Peay senior wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson and senior nickelback Kordell Jackson were named the 2020 OVC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in a vote of by the league’s head football coaches and communications directors.
This game between Austin Peay and Central Arkansas was supposed to kick off another exciting season of FCS football. These are two teams who won their conferences in 2019.
Jackie Mounts will soon take her rightful spot among the legends at Murray State University when she is inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame. Ceremonies are scheduled to take place on Nov. 13.
CSJ’s David Mays caught up with Tennessee State defensive coordinator Justin Roberts to talk Tigers football, strength and conditioning, and coaching in Nashville.
How do teams outside the FCS “Big Three” conferences take that final step to become national championship contenders, and how do these conferences gain national respect?
The Patriot League’s dilemmas, whether the rest of FCS admits it or not, is the FCS’ dilemmas. And as we inch closer to an alleged 2020 college football season, the NCAA needs to make some things very clear before a huge mess happens.
Parker Stewart made a name for himself in a short time at Tennessee-Martin. Now, he is hoping to hear his name called to play at the next level.
A coaching change within its volleyball program was made in plenty of time that allowed the Panthers to develop a cohesiveness that will be much needed if EIU is to improve on its three-win season of a year ago.
It was a nerve-wracking three days, but in the end the result was worth the wait.
Under first-year head coach Samantha Williams the Colonels fashioned an incredible turnaround from the 2018-19 season.
The kings of the Ohio Valley Conference maintained their familiar perch at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference as the 2019-20 regular season came to a close.
The final week of regular season play in the Ohio Valley Conference ended the same way it began: with UT Martin and Belmont sharing the top spot in the conference standings.
This is the 14th year of BOXTOROW’s Top 10 HBCU FCS Recruiting Class Rankings. Recruiting at HBCUs has really stepped up, to the point that HBCUs are regularly landing recruits that would go to small to mid-sized FBS programs.
