The 2026 regular season ends on Saturday ahead of the 24-team FCS Playoff field being announced on Sunday, November 22 at 11:00 a.m. CT on ESPNU.

If multiple teams finish tied for first place, they will be declared co-champions. The OVC's tiebreaker policy will determine the automatic  qualifier for the FCS Playoffs. 

This Week's League Games
Charleston Southern at Eastern Illinois
Tennessee State at Gardner-Webb
UT Martin at Southeast Missouri
Western Illinois at Lindenwood

Here is a look at scenarios:

* If Southeast Missouri beats UT Martin, the Redhawks finish 6-1 in league play and will either be outright champion (with a Western Illinois loss), or will earn the AQ in a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Leathernecks (if WIU beats Lindenwood).

* If Western Illinois beats Lindenwood to finish at 6-1 in league play, and Southeast Missouri loses to UT Martin, the Leathernecks would be outright champions and earn the AQ.

* If Lindenwood (vs. WIU) and UT Martin (vs. SEMO) win, there will be a four-way tie for first place (all teams 5-2). When comparing the four teams in the tie, SEMO and UTM would each have 2-1 composite records versus the other tied teams (LIN and WIU would have 1-2 records). The tiebreaker then shifts to a head-to-head tiebreaker between SEMO and UTM; UTM would have just beaten SEMO and would earn the AQ.

* Lindenwood cannot earn the AQ.