The Ohio Valley Conference has joined the chorus of FCS leagues setting their spring schedules, with one key difference.
Like the others, the OVC's season will begin in late February and run through mid-April.
Unlike the others, the spring OVC season will take place almost exclusively on Sundays.
The entire conference will take Sunday, March 7 off, and games will move to Saturday, April 3 to accommodate Easter Sunday, but otherwise all games will take place between 1 and 3 p.m. local time on Sundays.
Moving games to Sundays will solve the logistical issues of staging all the traditional winter and spring sports that missed their 2020 seasons plus whatever fall sports get up and running this spring as well.
“It is our sincere intention and desire to provide our student-athletes with an opportunity to play football this spring assuming the facts surrounding the pandemic support it,” said OVC commissioner Beth DeBauche. “We are excited to have plans and a schedule in place for it helps to create a sense of certainty during these uncertain times.”
Eight of the OVC's nine teams will play in the spring -- everyone except Eastern Kentucky -- and so all teams will play a 7-game round-robin over eight weeks. The Ohio Valley will take the weekend of April 17-18 off before the FCS playoffs begin the following weekend.
2020-21 OVC Football Schedule
Sunday, February 21
Austin Peay at Tennessee Tech
Eastern Illinois at UT Martin
Jacksonville State at Tennessee State
Murray State at Southeast Missouri
Sunday, February 28
Tennessee State at Austin Peay
Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois
Tennessee Tech at Jacksonville State
UT Martin at Murray State
Sunday, March 7
OPEN
Sunday, March 14
Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri
Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State
Jacksonville State at UT Martin
Murray State at Tennessee Tech
Sunday, March 21
UT Martin at Austin Peay
Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri at Jacksonville State
Tennessee State at Murray State
Sunday, March 28
Austin Peay at Jacksonville State
Eastern Illinois at Murray State
Tennessee Tech at Southeast Missouri
UT Martin at Tennessee State
Saturday, April 3
Murray State at Austin Peay
Jacksonville State at Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri at UT Martin
Tennessee State at Tennessee Tech
Sunday, April 11
Austin Peay at Eastern Illinois
Jacksonville State at Murray State
Southeast Missouri at Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech at UT Martin
Playoffs Schedule
April 18 – NCAA Selections
April 24-25 – Playoffs Begin
May 14, 15 or 16 - Championship