BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University’s football team now has its seven-game Ohio Valley Conference schedule in hand after the conference announced its plans, Wednesday, to resume conference play during the upcoming spring semester.

“It is our sincere intention and desire to provide our student-athletes with an opportunity to play football this spring assuming the facts surrounding the pandemic support it,” said OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche. “We are excited to have plans and a schedule in place for it helps to create a sense of certainty during these uncertain times.”

The seven-game football schedule will see the Governors play three home and four road games over a nine-week period. The home-away imbalance in the spring OVC slate is due to Eastern Kentucky choosing to play its entire schedule during the fall, eliminating one of the Govs home OVC games in the spring. Austin Peay will host Tennessee State (Sun., Feb. 28), UT Martin (Sun., March 21) and Murray State (Sat., April 3) at Fortera Stadium.

APSU football has played at their best when in Clarksville. The Governors boasted a 6-1 record at home a year ago and are 14-3 in Fortera Stadium since 2017.

Each team will have two open dates during the schedule to provide flexibility if schedule changes are necessary, including a league-wide off week coinciding with the OVC Basketball Championships, which will be held March 3-6.

In September, the NCAA approved a maximum of eight games during a 13-week period that begins Jan. 23. The OVC’s slate begins Feb. 21 and concludes April 11 with games scheduled for Sunday’s – except for Easter Weekend, which will be played the previous Saturday (April 3). The weeks prior to the OVC slate’s start are available for league members to schedule a nonconference opponent.

The seven OVC teams participating in the spring will compete for a league championship with the winner receiving an automatic berth to the adjusted NCAA Division I Football Championship. The FCS playoffs, with a reduced bracket from 24 to 16 teams, will include 11 automatic qualifiers and five at-large bids and an April 24 first-round starting date. The NCAA Championship Game is scheduled to return to Frisco’s Toyota Stadium on the weekend of May 15-16.

Further, the league noted this schedule is contingent upon current health conditions in each university community, following guidance from the NCAA, and local medical authorities. The OVC and its member institutions will determine game management details, ticketing and attendance matters, media and broadcast issues, and other operational details.

Austin Peay season ticket information will be available at a later date.