FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

OVC

#18 overall#7 in FCSRR50 +9.7Upper strength +12.28 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

Gardner-Webb Leads

Gardner-Webb holds the OVC lead heading into this week.

FCS8 teamsRace: FCS PlayoffLeader: Gardner-Webb

OVC · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The frontrunnerGardner-Webb's Title Defense

Gardner-Webb sit atop the OVC midway through 2026 (+12.9), going 3-6 in 2026. Until someone closes the gap, every other team in this conference is chasing them.

The challengerWestern Illinois: Closing the Gap

At +11.9, Western Illinois sit at 5-4 — the most realistic challenger in the OVC. The gap to the frontrunner is 1.1 power points, a margin that one strong head-to-head result can erase.

Wild cardCan Lindenwood Break Through?

Lindenwood sit at 4-4 and rank outside the top two in OVC power — but their offensive efficiency numbers suggest a team capable of an upset. If they can improve on this season's inconsistency, the playoff run conversation changes.

Conference standings · OVC · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Western Illinois3-15-4+11.9
2Southeast Missouri State3-15-4+9.5
3Lindenwood3-14-4+11.1
4Gardner-Webb2-23-6+12.9
5Eastern Illinois2-23-6+9.0
6UT Martin2-23-6+6.8
7Charleston Southern1-34-5+10.1
8Tennessee State0-42-7+5.7

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

Projected standings · OVC · 2026

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 ≥7≥6≥5≥4≥3≥2≥1
Favorites
1Gardner-Webb4-3+3.34.021337678898✓
2Western Illinois4-3+2.23.811031618597✓
Challengers
3Lindenwood4-3+1.53.811031608596✓
4Charleston Southern4-3+0.53.7182655819599
The field
5Eastern Illinois3-4−0.63.4162148769399
6Southeast Missouri State3-4−0.13.4152047769399
Rebuilding
7UT Martin3-4−2.82.921133628798
8Tennessee State3-4−4.02.821030598598

Conference power · FCS

Where we stand

# Conference Avg power Record Top team
1MVFC
+12.4
2-5South Dakota State
2Big Sky
+10.9
—Montana State
3UAC
+10.8
1-5Tarleton State
4Southern
+10.4
1-1Tennessee Tech
5SWAC
+10.0
1-2Alabama A&M
6Southland
+9.8
—Stephen F. Austin
7OVCYou are here
+9.7
—Gardner-Webb
8Ivy
+9.6
—Harvard
9MEAC
+9.4
3-0South Carolina State
10Coastal Athletic
+9.2
0-1UAlbany
11Patriot
+8.8
—Lehigh
12NEC
+8.2
—Central Connecticut
13Pioneer
+8.2
1-0St. Thomas (MN)

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

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

Conference Snapshot

RR50+9.7
Upper Strength+12.2
Median Power+9.7
Resume Pulse48.9
Avg ATS51.7%
Wins vs Market-0.15
Top-to-Middle Gap3.1
Combined Record29-42

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

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
#156 Gardner-Webb 3-6 +12.9 66 5-4 -0.81 2-2 over the last 4 (W5 L6 L7 W9)
#170 Western Illinois 5-4 +11.9 58 5-3 +0.34 3-1 over the last 4 (W5 L7 W8 W9)
#182 Lindenwood 4-4 +11.1 43 3-4 -0.03 3-1 over the last 4 (L6 W7 W8 W9)
#190 Charleston Southern 4-5 +10.1 70 6-2 +0.40 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 L9)
#200 Southeast Missouri State 5-4 +9.5 45 6-3 +0.16 3-1 over the last 4 (W6 W7 W8 L9)
#204 Eastern Illinois 3-6 +9.0 62 3-6 +0.71 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 L8 W9)
#236 UT Martin 3-6 +6.8 20 3-6 -1.19 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 W7 L8 L9)
#249 Tennessee State 2-7 +5.7 28 4-5 -0.77 1-3 over the last 4 (L6 W7 L8 L9)