Jump to content

List of Ohio Valley Conference football champions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ohio Valley Conference football champions
Conference Football Champion
SportCollege football
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Number of teams9
Played1948–2022
Current championAustin Peay (2) Southeast Missouri State (2)
Most championshipsEastern Kentucky (21)

This is a list of yearly regular season champions in college football of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) FCS Ohio Valley Conference. Fifteen different teams have won a championship in the seven decade history of the OVC; every team that plays in the conference has won at least one conference championship.[1]

After the 2022 season, the OVC effectively merged its football league with that of the Big South Conference as the Big South–OVC Football Association.

Champions by year

[edit]
Season Champion Record
1948 Murray State 3–1
Evansville 3–1
1949 Evansville 3–1–1
1950 Murray State 5–0–1
1951 Murray State 5–1
1952 Tennessee Tech 4–1
Western Kentucky 4–1
1953 Tennessee Tech 5–0
1954 Eastern Kentucky 5–0
1955 Tennessee Tech 5–0
1956 Middle Tennessee 5–0
1957 Middle Tennessee 5–0
1958 Middle Tennessee 5–1
Tennessee Tech 5–1
1959 Middle Tennessee 5–0–1
Tennessee Tech 5–0–1
1960 Tennessee Tech 6–0
1961 Tennessee Tech 6–0
1962 East Tennessee State 4–2
Eastern Kentucky 4–2
Middle Tennessee 4–2
Morehead State 4–2
1963 Western Kentucky 7–0
1964 Middle Tennessee 6–1
1965 Middle Tennessee 7–0
1966 Morehead State 6–1
1967 Eastern Kentucky 5–0–2
1968 Eastern Kentucky 7–0
1969 East Tennessee State 6–0–1
1970 Western Kentucky 5–1–1
1971 Western Kentucky 5–2
1972 Tennessee Tech 7–0
1973 Western Kentucky 7–0
1974 Eastern Kentucky 6–1
1975 Tennessee Tech 6–1
Western Kentucky 6–1
1976 Eastern Kentucky 6–1
1977 Austin Peay State 6–1
1978 Western Kentucky 6–0
1979 Murray State 6–0
1980 Western Kentucky 6–1
1981 Eastern Kentucky 8–0
1982 Eastern Kentucky 7–0
1983 Eastern Kentucky 6–1
1984 Eastern Kentucky 6–1
1985 Middle Tennessee 7–0
1986 Eastern Kentucky 6–1
Murray State 6–1
1987 Eastern Kentucky 5–1
Youngstown State 5–1
1988 Eastern Kentucky 6–0
1989 Middle Tennessee 6–0
1990 Eastern Kentucky 5–1
Middle Tennessee 5–1
1991 Eastern Kentucky 7–0
1992 Middle Tennessee 8–0
1993 Eastern Kentucky 8–0
1994 Eastern Kentucky 8–0
1995 Murray State 8–0
1996 Murray State 8–0
1997 Eastern Kentucky 7–0
1998 Tennessee State 6–1
1999 Tennessee State 7–0
2000 Western Kentucky 7–0
2001 Eastern Illinois 6–1
2002 Eastern Illinois 5–1
Murray State 5–1
2003 Jacksonville State 7–1
2004 Jacksonville State 7–1
2005 Eastern Illinois 8–0
2006 Eastern Illinois 7–1
UT Martin 6–1
2007 Eastern Kentucky 8–0
2008 Eastern Kentucky 7–1
2009 Eastern Illinois[n 1] 6–2
2010 Southeast Missouri State 7–1
2011 Tennessee Tech[n 2] 6–2
Eastern Kentucky 6–2
Jacksonville State 6–2
2012 Eastern Illinois 6–1
2013 Eastern Illinois 8–0
2014 Jacksonville State 8–0
2015 Jacksonville State 8–0
2016 Jacksonville State 8–0
2017 Jacksonville State 8–0
2018 Jacksonville State 7–1
2019 Austin Peay 7–1
Southeast Missouri State 7–1
2020/21 Jacksonville State †† 6–1
2021 UT Martin 5–1
2022 Southeast Missouri State 5-0
UT Martin 5-0

† Both the OVC[1]: 82 [2] and Tennessee Tech[3] list Tennessee Tech (6–1) as champion, while Western Kentucky (6–1) with a head-to-head victory over Tennessee Tech claims this as a co-championship.[4]

†† Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 OVC season was postponed until the Spring of 2021. Some teams played in the Fall. However, all conference games were played as per normal and the champions were crowned on April 11, 2021.

Championships by team

[edit]
Team Ohio Valley
Championships
Years
Eastern Kentucky 21 1954, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2011
Middle Tennessee State 11 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992
Tennessee Tech 10 1952, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1975, 2011
Jacksonville State 9 2003, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020/21
Western Kentucky 9 1952, 1963, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975†,1978, 1980, 2000
Murray State 8 1948, 1950, 1951, 1979, 1986, 1995, 1996, 2002
Eastern Illinois 7 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013
Southeast Missouri State 3 2010, 2019, 2022
UT Martin 3 2006, 2021, 2022
Tennessee State 2 1998, 1999
East Tennessee State 2 1962, 1969
Morehead State 2 1962, 1966
Evansville 2 1948, 1949
Austin Peay 2 1977, 2019
Youngstown State 1 1987

Bold indicates an outright conference championship.

Italics indicates a school not competing in the Big South–OVC Football Association.

† Claimed as a co-championship by WKU, but not recognized by the Ohio Valley Conference.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Jacksonville State (6–1) had the best record in the conference, but was ineligible for the championship due to Academic Progress Rate sanctions.
  2. ^ Tennessee Tech won the tiebreaker for the conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "2017 Ohio Valley Conference Media Guide" (PDF). ovcsports.com.
  2. ^ "Past OVC Football Champions". ovcsports.com.
  3. ^ "2014 Tennessee Tech Football Guide". ttusports.com. Tennessee Tech Athletics. p. 166.
  4. ^ "2017 WKU Football Media Guide" (PDF). wkusports.com. Western Kentucky Athletics. p. 164. Retrieved April 25, 2018.