Welcome back, college football fans, for the latest episode from the great city of New York! JoJo and I are here on a family vacation, but we do not forget our responsibilities. Today we are trying to process the news that Texas St, currently of the Sun Belt, will be shifting to the Pac-(pick a number) in 2026. They are just slightly west (San Marcos, TX which is very close to San Antonio) of SMU (Dallas), who, of course, is a member of the ACC. Makes sense, right? We thought so too.
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Today, though, is not about any of the 3 mentioned conferences, but rather the penultimate FCS conference, the 9-team conglomeration of the Big South Ohio Valley Football Conference (BSOV). Both the Big South and the Ohio Valley Conference are full-sized basketball groups, but, alas, many of their schools do not play football. Neither conference was large or strong enough to warrant an auto bid to the playoffs, so they shared that spot for a few years before transfers decimated both existing conferences forcing the formal merger.
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In the table below, (F) indicates non-conference FCS opponents, (4) indicates a Core 4 (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, Notre Dame) challenge, (G) indicates a Group of 5 foe, and (D) indicates a non-division 1 patsy. There are no scheduled neutral site games. With no further ado, JoJo and I are proud to present the 2025 (big breath) Big South Ohio Valley Football Conference; the 13th most difficult out of 25.
| Team | Home | 2024 Record (Rank) | 2025 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away Games |
| Gardner Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (1) | Boiling Springs, NC | 4-8 (235) | 5.60 (139) | Citadel (F), Charleston So, Tennessee Martin, SEMO, W Illinois | W Carolina (F), Georgia Tech (4), Ohio (G), E Illinois, Lindenwood, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee St |
| Charleston So Buccaneers (2) | North Charleston, SC | 1-11 (251) | 5.23 (142) | Lindenwood, South Carolina St (F), Tennessee Tech, E Illinois, Tennessee St | Vanderbilt (4), Coastal Car (G), William & Mary (F), Gardner Webb, W Illinois, SEMO, Tennessee Martin |
| W Illinois Leathernecks (3) | Macomb, IL | 4-8 (206) | 5.13 (145) | Valparaiso (F), E Illinois, Charleston So, Lindenwood SEMO | Illinois (4), Northwestern (4), E Washington (F), Tennessee Tech, Tennessee Martin, Tennessee St, Gardner Webb |
| Lindenwood Lions (4) | St Charles, MO | 5-7 (220) | 5.01 (151) | Stony Brook (F), Tennessee Martin, Tennessee Tech, Garnder Webb, E Illinois | St Thomas (F), App St (G), Charleston So, Miami OH (G), Tennessee St, W Illinois, SEMO |
| SEMO Redhawks (5) | Cape Girardeau, MO | 9-4 (156) | 4.63 (166) | N Alabama (F), S Illinois (F), Tennessee St, E Illinois, Charleston So, Lindenwood | Arkansas St (G), North Dakota St (F), Tennessee Martin, Tennessee Tech, Gardner Webb, W Illinois |
| E Illinois Panthers (6) | Charleston, IL | 3-9 (227) | 4.38 (179) | Dayton (F), Illinois St (F), Tennessee St, Gardner Webb, Tennessee Martin, Tennessee Tech | Indiana St (F), W Illinois, SEMO, Charleston So, Lindenwood, Alabama (4) |
| Tennessee Martin Skyhawks (7) | Martin, TN | 9-5 (159) | 3.86 (206) | S Illinois (F), SEMO, W Illinois, Tennessee St, Charleston So | Oklahoma St (4), UTEP (G), Missouri St (G), Lindenwood, Gardner Webb, E Illinois, Tennessee Tech |
| Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (8) | Cookeville, TN | 7-5 (182) | 3.65 (219) | Cumberland TN (D), Chattanooga (F), Davidson (F), W Illinois, SEMO, Gardner Webb, Tennessee Martin | Tennessee St, Charleston So, Lindenwood, E Illinois, Kentucky (4) |
| Tennessee St Tigers (9) | Nashville, TN | 9-4 (158) | 3.56 (225) | North Carolina A&T (F), North Dakota St (F), Alabama A&M (F), Tennessee Tech, Howard (F), W Illinois, Lindenwood, Gardner Webb | E Illinois, SEMO, Tennessee Martin, Charleston So |
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That’s it for today. Thank you for reading and sharing with others, JoJo and G.
