BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Big South Conference and the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) 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 ten 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 ten 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 on the final Saturday of October. Two of the three November dates have a maximum of 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 later.
Below is the 2023 TSU OVC league schedule, along with the two Big South opponents that the Tigers will face.
9/16 – Gardner Webb
9/30 – @ UT Martin
10/28 – Lindenwood
11/4 – @ Charleston Southern
11/11 – @ Eastern Illinois
11/18 – Tennessee Tech
Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics
