By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Big South Conference and the Ohio Valley Conference announced today its football conference game schedule for the 2023 season, which marks the first year of the joint association of the league’s football member institutions.
The 10 combined teams in 2023 (6 – OVC, 4 – Big South) will play a six-game conference schedule, as prior scheduling commitments prevented opportunities for additional Big South-OVC games in the first year.
Games will be played during 10 of the 12 weeks in 2023, with the first-ever contest scheduled for Week 2 on Sept. 9 with Lindenwood at 2022 OVC Champion Southeast Missouri. The first cross-over game features 2022 Big South Champion Gardner-Webb at Tennessee State in Week 3 on Sept. 16.
Five of the 10 members will begin league play in September – Lindenwood (Sept. 9), Southeast Missouri (Sept. 9), Tennessee State (Sept. 16), Gardner-Webb (Sept. 16) and UT Martin (Sept. 30). The remaining five squads open conference action on either Oct. 7 or Oct. 14.
Three league games are slated for Oct. 7, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21 and the slate increases to four the final Saturday of October. Two of the three November dates have the maximum five conference games on the schedule.
More details of the association’s administration, including tiebreakers for the automatic bid to the playoffs, will be announced at a later date.
Below is the 2023 composite Big South-OVC league schedule, which is subject to change.
2023 Big South-OVC Football Conference Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 9
Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri
Saturday, Sept. 16
Gardner-Webb at Tennessee State
Saturday, Sept. 30
Tennessee State at UT Martin
Saturday, Oct. 7
UT Martin at Eastern Illinois
Robert Morris at Gardner-Webb
Tennessee Tech at Lindenwood
Saturday, Oct. 14
Robert Morris at Bryant
Lindenwood at Charleston Southern
Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri
Saturday, Oct. 21
Bryant at Eastern Illinois
Charleston Southern at UT Martin
Southeast Missouri at Tennessee Tech
Saturday, Oct. 28
Bryant at Charleston Southern
UT Martin at Gardner-Webb
Lindenwood at Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech at Robert Morris
Saturday, Nov. 4
Gardner-Webb at Bryant
Tennessee State at Charleston Southern
Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood
Robert Morris at Southeast Missouri
UT Martin at Tennessee Tech
Saturday, Nov. 11
Bryant at Lindenwood
Charleston Southern at Robert Morris
Tennessee State at Eastern Illinois
Gardner-Webb at Tennessee Tech
Southeast Missouri at UT Martin
Saturday, Nov. 18
Southeast Missouri at Bryant
Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb
Eastern Illinois at Robert Morris
Tennessee Tech at Tennessee State
ABOUT THE BIG SOUTH-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION
In February 2022 the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference announced the creation of an association of their football member institutions, to begin with the 2023 NCAA Division I football season and have an initial term of at least four years. The unique agreement combines the two conferences’ football membership to ensure NCAA championship access and stability for the multisport conferences. In creating the association, presidents from each of the multisport conferences pointed to the similarities of the OVC and the Big South, with their complementary geographies and intercollegiate athletic philosophies, as key to making this association possible.
This year the conferences combined for 13 finalists for the 2022 FCS National awards (Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, Jerry Rice, Eddie Robinson and Doris Robinson), with four individuals finishing in the Top 10 of voting.
Schools included in the association include Bryant University (Smithfield, RI), Charleston Southern University (Charleston, SC), Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, IL), Gardner-Webb University (Boiling Springs, NC), Lindenwood University (St. Charles, MO), Robert Morris University (Moon Township, PA), Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO), Tennessee State University (Nashville, TN), Tennessee Technological University (Cookeville, TN) and University of Tennessee at Martin (Martin, TN).
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information