FCS CONFERENCE · 2025 SEASON

Big South-OVC

#21 overall#10 in FCSRR50 +8.6Upper strength +10.59 teamsTop 25 teams 0

THE LONG WAIT · 2025

The Merger

The Big South and Ohio Valley Conference merged in 2024 to form a single league — the first major FCS conference consolidation in the modern era. The combined footprint runs from the Carolinas through Tennessee, Kentucky, and into the Midwest, with 20+ programs including North Alabama, Campbell, Eastern Illinois, UT Martin, and Southeast Missouri State. The merger was driven by survival economics: media rights and scheduling efficiency mattered more than conference identity once the FCS playoff expanded. The first full merged season ran in 2025.

With 20+ programs competing for a handful of automatic playoff bids, the Big South-OVC has more internal competition than almost any FCS conference. Which program builds the resume that earns an at-large look — and does the merged conference's depth translate into multiple bracket appearances in year two?

FCS9 teamsRace: FCS Playoff

Big South-OVC · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The PowerNorth Alabama's FCS Transition

North Alabama won three FCS national championships as a Division II powerhouse before moving up to FCS in 2018. They went through FCS transition eligibility and are now fully competitive in the Big South-OVC. Their recruiting in northern Alabama — in the shadow of Alabama and Auburn — gives them a talent pipeline that is unusual for a program of their size and age at this level.

The Merger BeneficiaryEastern Illinois: OVC Legacy in a New Conference

Eastern Illinois has produced more NFL players per student than almost any program in FCS history — Jimmy Garoppolo, Tony Romo, Sean Payton all have EIU connections. Their program culture survived the OVC merger and entered the Big South-OVC as one of its strongest competitive programs. The 2026 bracket conversation includes them as a legitimate at-large candidate for the first time in the merged conference era.

Wild Card

Which Big South-OVC Program Becomes the Automatic Bid Face?

The merged conference has a single automatic bid to the FCS bracket. With 20+ programs competing for it, the regular-season champion earns something more meaningful than a typical conference title — they earn the bracket entry that five other deserving programs did not get. That scarcity makes every Big South-OVC regular-season game count in a way that smaller conferences cannot match.

Conference Standings · Big South-OVC · 2025

Standings

#	Team	Conf	Overall	Pwr
1	Tennessee Tech	8–0	11–2	+11.6
2	UT Martin	6–2	6–6	+9.7
3	Gardner-Webb	5–3	7–5	+9.6
4	Lindenwood	5–3	6–6	+9.8
5	Charleston Southern	4–4	5–7	+8.1
6	Southeast Missouri State	3–5	4–8	+8.1
7	Western Illinois	3–5	4–8	+7.5
8	Eastern Illinois	2–6	3–9	+5.6
9	Tennessee State	0–8	2–10	+5.7

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Projected Standings · Big South-OVC · 2025

Win Projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.

#	Team	W–L	PWR	AVG	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Tennessee Tech	5–3	+3.2	4.7	1	9	28	56	80	94	99	✓
2	Lindenwood	4–4	+1.4	4.3	1	5	20	45	72	90	98	✓
Challengers
3	UT Martin	4–4	+1.3	4.3	1	5	19	44	71	90	98	✓
4	Gardner-Webb	4–4	+1.2	4.3	1	5	19	43	71	90	98	✓
The Field
5	Charleston Southern	4–4	-0.3	3.9		3	13	34	62	85	96	✓
6	Southeast Missouri State	4–4	-0.3	3.9		3	13	34	62	85	96	✓
7	Western Illinois	4–4	-0.9	3.8		2	11	31	58	83	96	99
Rebuilding
8	Tennessee State	3–5	-2.7	3.4		1	7	22	47	74	92	99
9	Eastern Illinois	3–5	-2.8	3.4		1	7	22	47	74	92	99

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

#	Conference	Avg Power	vs Focal	Top Team
1	MVFC	+10.2	0–7	North Dakota State
2	Big Sky	+9.6	0–1	Montana State
3	MEAC	+9.4	2–0	South Carolina State
4	UAC	+9.3	1–0	Tarleton State
5	SWAC	+9.1	0–1	Alabama State
6	Southland	+9.1	—	Stephen F. Austin
7	CAA	+8.9	2–1	Villanova
8	Patriot	+8.7	—	Lehigh
9	Big South-OVCYou are here	+8.6	—	Tennessee Tech
10	Pioneer	+8.5	3–1	Presbyterian
11	Southern	+8.4	3–0	Mercer
12	NEC	+8.2	—	Central Connecticut
13	Ivy	+7.7	—	Yale

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Big South-OVC's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

Big South-OVC reads like a weekly gauntlet. The middle of the league is strong enough that contenders do not get many breathers.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+8.6

Upper Strength+10.5

Median Power+8.4

Resume Pulse45.5

Avg ATS46.7%

Wins vs Market-0.01

Top-to-Middle Gap3.5

Combined Record48-61

League Drivers

Power leader Tennessee Tech #120 overall | +11.6 pts vs avg Resume leader Tennessee Tech #120 overall | 95 / 100 resume ATS leader Lindenwood 58.3% cover rate Beat expectation Charleston Southern +1.46 wins vs market

Big South-OVC Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank	Team	Record	Power	Resume	ATS	Wins vs Market	Recent Form
#120	Tennessee Tech	11-2	+11.6	95	4-8	+0.31	2-2 over the last 4 (W11 L12 W13 L14)
#171	Lindenwood	6-6	+9.8	52	7-5	+0.72	3-1 over the last 4 (W10 L11 W12 W13)
#176	UT Martin	6-6	+9.7	49	5-6	+0.64	3-1 over the last 4 (W10 W11 W12 L13)
#177	Gardner-Webb	7-5	+9.6	67	7-5	+0.94	2-2 over the last 4 (L10 W11 W12 L13)
#207	Charleston Southern	5-7	+8.1	42	7-5	+1.46	3-1 over the last 4 (W9 W10 L12 W13)
#208	Southeast Missouri State	4-8	+8.1	26	4-8	-1.93	1-3 over the last 4 (L10 L11 W12 L13)
#220	Western Illinois	4-8	+7.5	34	6-6	+0.51	3-1 over the last 4 (W9 W11 L12 W13)
#248	Tennessee State	2-10	+5.7	19	4-8	-1.60	0-4 over the last 4 (L10 L11 L12 L13)
#250	Eastern Illinois	3-9	+5.6	24	6-6	-1.17	0-4 over the last 4 (L10 L11 L12 L13)