This is a list of yearly regular season champions in college football of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) FCS Ohio Valley Conference. Fifteen different teams have won a championship in the seven decade history of the OVC; every team that plays in the conference has won at least one conference championship.
After the 2022 season, the OVC effectively merged its football league with that of the Big South Conference as the Big South–OVC Football Association.
Champions by year SeasonChampionRecord 1948 3–1 1949 Evansville 3–1–1 1950 5–0–1 1951 5–11952 Tennessee Tech 4–1 Western Kentucky 4–1 1953 5–0 1954 5–0 1955 Tennessee Tech 5–0 1956 Middle Tennessee 5–0 1957 Middle Tennessee 5–01958 Middle Tennessee 5–1 5–11959 Middle Tennessee 5–0–1 5–0–1 1960 6–0 1961 6–0 1962 4–2 4–2 Middle Tennessee 4–2 4–2 1963 Western Kentucky 7–0 1964 Middle Tennessee 6–1 1965 Middle Tennessee 7–0 1966 6–1 1967 5–0–2 1968 7–0 1969 East Tennessee State 6–0–1 1970 Western Kentucky 5–1–1 1971 Western Kentucky 5–2 1972 7–0 1973 Western Kentucky 7–0 1974 6–1 1975 † 6–1 1976 6–1 1977 6–1 1978 Western Kentucky 6–0 1979 Murray State 6–0 1980 Western Kentucky 6–1 1981 Eastern Kentucky 8–0 1982 Eastern Kentucky 7–0 1983 Eastern Kentucky 6–1 1984 Eastern Kentucky 6–1 1985 Middle Tennessee 7–01986 Eastern Kentucky 6–1 Murray State 6–11987 Eastern Kentucky 5–1 Youngstown State 5–1 1988 Eastern Kentucky 6–0 1989 Middle Tennessee 6–01990 Eastern Kentucky 5–1 Middle Tennessee 5–1 1991 Eastern Kentucky 7–0 1992 Middle Tennessee 8–0 1993 Eastern Kentucky 8–0 1994 Eastern Kentucky 8–0 1995 Murray State 8–0 1996 Murray State 8–0 1997 Eastern Kentucky 7–0 1998 Tennessee State 6–1 1999 Tennessee State 7–0 2000 Western Kentucky 7–0 2001 Eastern Illinois 6–12002 Eastern Illinois 5–1 Murray State 5–1 2003 Jacksonville State 7–1 2004 Jacksonville State 7–1 2005 Eastern Illinois 8–02006 Eastern Illinois 7–1 UT Martin 6–1 2007 Eastern Kentucky 8–0 2008 Eastern Kentucky 7–1 2009 Eastern Illinois 6–2 2010 Southeast Missouri State 7–12011 Tennessee Tech 6–2 Eastern Kentucky 6–2 Jacksonville State 6–2 2012 Eastern Illinois 6–1 2013 Eastern Illinois 8–0 2014 Jacksonville State 8–0 2015 Jacksonville State 8–0 2016 Jacksonville State 8-0 2017 Jacksonville State 8-0 2018 Jacksonville State 7-12019 Austin Peay 7-1 Southeast Missouri State 7-1 2020/21 †† Jacksonville State 6-1 2021 UT Martin 5-12022 UT Martin 5-0 Southeast Missouri State 5-02023 UT Martin 5-1 Gardner-Webb 5-12024 UT Martin 6-2 Tennessee Tech 6-2 Tennessee State6-2 Southeast Missouri State 6-22025 Tennessee Tech 8-0 † Both the OVC and Tennessee Tech list Tennessee Tech (6–1) as champion, while Western Kentucky (6–1) with a head-to-head victory over Tennessee Tech claims this as a co-championship.
†† Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 OVC season was postponed until the Spring of 2021. Some teams played in the Fall. However, all conference games were played as per normal and the champions were crowned on April 11, 2021.
Championships by team Team Ohio ValleyChampionships Years Eastern Kentucky 21 1954, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2011 Tennessee Tech12 1952, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1975, 2011, 2024, 2025 Middle Tennessee State11 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992 Jacksonville State9 2003, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020/21 Western Kentucky 9 1952, 1963, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975†,1978, 1980, 2000 Murray State8 1948, 1950, 1951, 1979, 1986, 1995, 1996, 2002 Eastern Illinois7 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013 UT Martin 5 2006, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Southeast Missouri State4 2010, 2019, 2022, 2024 Tennessee State3 1998, 1999, 2024 East Tennessee State2 1962, 1969 Morehead State 2 1962, 1966 Evansville 2 1948, 1949 Austin Peay 2 1977, 2019 Youngstown State 1 1987 Gardner-Webb 1 2023 Bold indicates an outright conference championship.
Italics indicates a school not competing in the Big South–OVC Football Association.
† Claimed as a co-championship by WKU, but not recognized by the Ohio Valley Conference.
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