THE OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE

In 1941, foresighted men had visions of an Ohio Valley Conference . Sports writers speculated about the impending division of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Virtually all agreed it was just a matter of time until the division took place and a new athletic conference was formed .

Then the Japan e se bombed Pearl Harbor and America was plunged jnto World War II .

Seven years later, after the hostilities had ceased, a pre-war dream became a post-war reality. The " Big Five" of the K. I. A. C. w ithdrew to form the Ohio Valle y Conference.

Making the move were Western Kentucky State College , Eastern Kentucky State College, Murray State College , Morehead State College and the University of Louisville . They were joined by Evansville College and , shortl y thereafter , by Tennessee Tech and Marshall College .

Purpose of the 0. V . C. , as set forth in its constitution, is " to regulate , control , and promote all the recognized branches of intercollegiate athletics in institutions represented. "

Through a gradual process , the Ohio Valley Conference was to become a league of Kentucky and Tennessee state colleges . Middle Tennessee State College joined the rolls in 1952, East Tennessee State University in 1957 and Austin Peay State College in the spring of 1962 . They replaced Louisville , which became an independent in 1949 , and Marshall and Evansville , which departed in 1952.

In 1963, the league took another step forward by appointing Arthur L. Guepe, former foot ball coach and athletic director at Virginia and Vanderbilt Universities , as the OVC ' s first full-time commissioner.

Annually, the OVC presents an All-Sports Trophy fo r over-all excellence in the entire athletic program. During the past four years, Eastern has won the trophy once and finished second twice.