Heading into the final week of the 2022 football season, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin are tied atop the OVC standings with 4-0 records. The two teams do not play this season due to several factors that led to an unbalanced conference schedule.
The original 2022 schedule was adjusted due to membership transition. Lindenwood joined the OVC in late February 2022 becoming the conference’s seventh football-playing school. Because of the non-conference games already contracted, and in order to add Lindenwood to the conference schedule, each school played one (1) fewer OVC opponent. The number of road and home games were balanced out, and the five-game conference schedule was adopted by the Council of Directors of Athletics in March 2022 in compliance with NCAA rules.
If both Southeast Missouri and UT Martin finish with the same record (both win or both lose this weekend) they will finish the year 5-0 or 4-1 and be declared co-champions. On Saturday Southeast Missouri will host Murray State while UT Martin hosts Eastern Illinois.
The tiebreaker that was approved by the football coaches and Council of Directors of Athletics will be used to determine the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. Southeast Missouri and UT Martin are tied (beat the exact same opponents) until the final step. The final step in the tiebreaker is a coin flip, which will determine the AQ.
If a coin flip is necessary, it will take place on Saturday evening after both games are completed. The flip will be witnessed by individuals from both schools, recorded, and also live streamed on Twitter via
@OVCSports. The flip is anticipated to take place around 6 p.m. CT.