The OVC-Big South has officially announced its 2026 conference football schedule. Conference play begins on Thursday, Aug. 27 with Charleston Southern at Lindenwood.
For the fourth consecutive season, the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and Big South Conference will compete under a partnership of their football-playing members, dubbed the OVC-Big-South Football Association.
The OVC-Big South currently consists of eight members — Charleston Southern, Eastern Illinois, Gardner-Webb, Lindenwood, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State, UT Martin, and Western Illinois. Tennessee Tech departs the league officially this summer for the Southern Conference.
Beginning in 2026, each OVC-Big South team will play a seven-game conference schedule which will determine the OVC-Big South’s automatic qualifier for the FCS Playoffs. Schools can play up to 12-games total.
Eight previously unannounced non-conference matchups involving OVC-Big South teams were also revealed via team schedule releases today and are listed below:
Northwestern (IA) at WIU – Aug. 27
Chicago State at UT Martin – Sept. 5
Illinois State at WIU – Sept. 5
Point at Charleston Southern – Sept. 19
EIU at South Dakota State – Sept. 26
UT Martin at Austin Peay – Sept. 26
WIU at North Alabama – Sept. 26
SC State at Charleston Southern – Oct. 10
Big South-OVC Football Schedules
- 2026 Charleston Southern Football Schedule
- 2026 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule
- 2026 Gardner-Webb Football Schedule
- 2026 Lindenwood Football Schedule
- 2026 Southeast Missouri Football Schedule
- 2026 Tennessee State Football Schedule
- 2026 UT Martin Football Schedule
- 2026 Western Illinois Football Schedule
2026 Big South-OVC Football Schedule
Conference games only.
Thursday, Aug. 27
Charleston Southern at Lindenwood
Saturday, Oct. 3
Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern
Tennessee State at Western Illinois
Saturday, Oct. 10
Eastern Illinois at Gardner-Webb
Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood
UT Martin at Tennessee State
Saturday, Oct. 17
Lindenwood at Eastern Illinois
Gardner-Webb at UT Martin
Western Illinois at Southeast Missouri
Saturday, Oct. 24
Charleston Southern at Tennessee State
Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois
UT Martin at Western Illinois
Saturday, Oct. 31
Western Illinois at Charleston Southern
Eastern Illinois at UT Martin
Gardner-Webb at Southeast Missouri
Tennessee State at Lindenwood
Saturday, Nov. 7
UT Martin at Charleston Southern
Western Illinois at Eastern Illinois
Lindenwood at Gardner-Webb
Southeast Missouri at Tennessee State
Saturday, Nov. 14
Southeast Missouri at Charleston Southern
Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State
Gardner-Webb at Western Illinois
Lindenwood at UT Martin
Saturday, Nov. 21
Charleston Southern at Eastern Illinois
Tennessee State at Gardner-Webb
Western Illinois at Lindenwood
UT Martin at Southeast Missouri
2026 OVC-Big South Football Schedule pic.twitter.com/Q8YFNvx0nz
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) January 13, 2026
