Ohio Valley, Southland Conferences Announces Dates for 2022

In October the two NCAA Division I FCS leagues announced the framework for the collaboration which provides quality Division I non-conference matchups for teams in each league in 2022 and 2023.

In the currently scheduling alliance Eastern Illinois will play two games against Southland Conference schools with a home contest against Northwestern State and a road game at McNeese State.

Those two games are in addition to the Panthers opening three non-conference games of the season which include the season opener on Sept. 3 at Northern Illinois.  EIU will then host Chattanooga on Sept. 10 for the Panthers home opener before traveling to Illinois State on Sept. 17 for the Mid-America Classic.

The Ohio Valley Conference portion of the 2022 schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

The entire list of OVC/Southland matchups for the 2022 season are:

September 10 – Texas A&M-Commerce at Tennessee TechSeptember 17 – Nicholls at Southeast MissouriOctober 1 – Murray State at Southeastern

LouisianaOctober 8 – Northwestern State at Eastern IllinoisOctober 22 – Southeast Missouri at Northwestern StateOctober 29 – UT Martin at Houston

BaptistNovember 5 – Eastern Illinois at McNeese StateNovember 19 – Tennessee State at Texas A&M-Commerce
 

Alliance matchups for the 2023 season will be announced at a later date. Additionally, the leagues will work together to cross-promote the alliance during the season, allowing for increased visibility, exposure and branding for each Conference. Both the OVC and Southland have longstanding ESPN broadcast agreements.

 “With the changing landscape of Division I, partnerships are going to be more important than ever to build quality schedules,” said OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche. “This is the first step of things to come and we are looking forward to building this relationship with the Southland Conference.”

“We are really happy to announce more details regarding the previously released Southland-OVC scheduling alliance,” said Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett. “We look forward to building some great FCS-specific competition that will build rivalries and assist in determining NCAA postseason opportunities for teams and student-athletes in both leagues.”

The two Conferences have combined for four FCS National Championships and more than 100 playoff wins since the subdivision was formed in 1978. Additionally, the Southland has served as the host conference for the successful NCAA Division I FCS Championship Game in its home base of Frisco, Texas, since 2011.

OVC football members include Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, Ill.), Murray State University (Murray, Ky.), Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, Mo.), Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tenn.), Tennessee Technological University (Cookeville, Tenn.), and the University of Tennessee at Martin (Martin, Tenn.).

Southland football members include Houston Baptist University (Houston, Texas), McNeese State University (Lake Charles, La.), Nicholls State University (Thibodaux, La.), Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, La.), Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond, La.), and Texas A&M University-Commerce (Commerce, Texas).

About the Ohio Valley Conference

The Ohio Valley Conference was founded in 1948 and is in its seventh decade of competition, making it the eighth-oldest Division I athletic conference. Over its 73 years, OVC teams have garnered national championships in football along with national team or individual titles in the sports of rifle, cross country, track and golf. Over the past seven years the league has placed multiple teams in NCAA Championship fields in the sports baseball, men's basketball, football and rifle. In the 1950s the OVC became a pioneer when Morehead State became one of the first non-traditionally Black mid-southern institutions to accept an African American student. Soon after the passing of Title IX legislation, the OVC began formulating plans for women's athletics which began in 1977. The OVC has long been a national leader in sportsmanship and in 1995 implemented a first-of-its-kind Sportsmanship Statement, a policy that promotes principals of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The OVC has a multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN and well as a sponsorship agreement with LEARFIELD.