WEEK 1
THURSDAY, AUG. 28
Dayton at EASTERN ILLINOIS
6:00pm CT ESPN+
DAYTON leads, 1-0
LINDENWOOD at St. Thomas
6:00pm CT MidcoSports Plus
LINDENWOOD leads, 1-0
UT MARTIN at Oklahoma State
6:30pm CT ESPN+
1st meeting
FRIDAY, AUG. 29
WESTERN ILLINOIS at Illinois (#12/12)
6:30pm CT Peacock
ILLINOIS leads, 3-0
SATURDAY, AUG. 30
Cumberland at #21/22 TENNESSEE TECH
12:00pm CT ESPN+
TENNESSEE TECH leads, 7-6-1
North Carolina A&T at TENNESSEE STATE
3:30pm CT ESPN+
TENNESSEE STATE leads, 19-6-1
GARDNER-WEBB at #18/19 Western Carolina
6:00pm ET ESPN+
WESTERN CAROLINA leads, 6-5
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI at Arkansas State
6:00pm CT ESPN+
SEMO leads, 7-4-1
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN at Vanderbilt
6:00pm CT ESPN+
VANDERBILT leads, 1-0
2-MINUTE OFFENSE
OPENING KICKOFF: The third season of the OVC-Big South Football Association kicks off Thursday, Aug. 28 … Year 3 of the Association is again comprised of nine members, and the 2025 conference schedule features every team playing each other for an 8-game league slate for the second-straight year … The first OVC-Big South game is in Week 3 (Lindenwood at Charleston Southern).
1st DOWN: All nine OVC-Big South squads will play in Week 1. Three contests are Thursday night openers, followed by the first Friday season-opener in the Association’s three years of existence. Four of the nine total match-ups on the schedule are against FBS opponents.
2nd DOWN: The Association welcomes one new head coach in 2025 — REGGIE BARLOW of Tennessee State. Barlow was named to the post on March 23, and is 83-58 as a collegiate head coach following stops at Alabama State (2007-14) and Virginia State (2016-21)
3rd DOWN: The OVC-Big South 2025 Preseason Players of the Year are Lindenwood RB STEVE HALL and UT Martin DB JaMICHAEL McGOY JR. Hall is among the WALTER PAYTON Award Preseason Watch List candidates, while McGoy is a preseason All-American and BUCK BUCHANAN Award Preseason Watch List member.
4th DOWN: Preseason OVC-Big South favorite Tennessee Tech enters the season nationally-ranked for the first time since the 2021 Spring season. The Golden Eagles are No. 21 in the Stats Perform poll and tied for No. 22 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. SEMO, UT Martin and Tennessee State also received votes in the Stats Perform ranking. Those three programs along with Lindenwood received plaudits in the Coaches’ preseason ratings.
OVERTIME: Eight of the nine Associations members will play 14 total games against FBS opponents this fall — a league record. The previous high was 13 a season ago.
SLANT ROUTES
* CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: The Buccaneers are opening the season against an FBS opponent for the first time since 2018, which was also against an SEC foe (at Florida) … CSU’s lone meeting with Vanderbilt was in 2014, a 21-20 loss to the Commodores
* EASTERN ILLINOIS: The Panthers are opening the season at home for the first time since the 2021 Spring season … EIU is seeking its first 1-0 start since 2023.
* GARDNER-WEBB: The Runnin’ Bulldogs are opening the season against a nationally-ranked FCS opponent for the first time since the 2021 Spring season (#24 Elon) … GWU last opened 1-0 in 2022.
* LINDENWOOD: The Lions are opening the season on the road for the second consecutive year … Lindenwood, seeking its first 1-0 start since 2023, defeated St. Thomas last year, 64-0.
* SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: The Redhawks are opening the season against an FBS foe for the second time in three years (2023 at Kansas State) … SEMO last defeated Arkansas State in 1946.
* TENNESSEE STATE: The Tigers are looking to start 1-0 for the second consecutive year … TSU won the last meeting with North Carolina A&T in 2010, a 37-7 neutral site victory in Indianapolis on Oct. 2.
* TENNESSEE TECH: The Golden Eagles are opening the season at home for the first time since the 2021 Spring season, which was also the last time TTU started 1-0.
* UT MARTIN: The Skyhawks are opening the season at an FBS member for the third consecutive year … UTM is playing three FBS foes in 2025 and owns the Association’s lone FBS victory (won at Kennesaw State in 2024).
* WESTERN ILLINOIS: The Leathernecks are opening the campaign at an FBS foe for the third-straight year … WIU will face consecutive FBS members in the first two weeks of the season, both of which will be Friday night affairs at Big Ten programs (at Illinois and at Northwestern).
