The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) has announced preliminary spring competition schedules for the three-team sports that were postponed this fall due to COVID-19. The schedules, including football, soccer (men and women) and women’s volleyball, feature conference-only competition and do not exceed the NCAA 50-percent waiver so that all student-athletes will retain one of their four seasons of participation.

The schedules are currently planned to begin on the weekend of March 12, 2021, and conclude on the weekend of April 16 with championship games in all sports.

Football

The Conference will split into two divisions, East and West. The East Division includes Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll, Marietta, Mount Union, and Muskingum. The West Division includes Capital, Heidelberg, Ohio Northern, Otterbein, and Wilmington.

Each team will play the other four teams in its division (two home, two road) over a five-week period with each team receiving a bye. All games are scheduled on Friday nights at 7 p.m., beginning on Friday, March 12.

On Friday, April 16, the top seeds of each division will meet for the OAC championship. The two-seeds will also play as well as the three-seeds, four-seeds, and five-seeds. The East Division will host the #1, #3, and #5 games, while the West Division will host #2 and #4.

Soccer

Men’s and women’s soccer will take the originally-scheduled fall 2020 round-robin and move it to the spring, beginning on Sunday, March 14. The men and women will play at opposite sites each Sunday and Thursday. Sunday contests will begin at 2 p.m., while Thursday matches are either 4 or 7 p.m. at the host’s discretion.

On Sunday, April 18, the top seed will host the second seed for the conference championship. The third-seed will host the fourth-seed, etc. so that all 10 teams play 10 contests.

Volleyball

Women’s volleyball will take the originally-scheduled fall 2020 round-robin and move it to the spring, beginning on Friday, March 12. Matches will be played every Friday night and Tuesday night until the regular season ends on Friday, April 9. Each date will feature a doubleheader match, resulting in a conference double-round robin, with games starting at 6 and 8 p.m.

After April 9, the league will be seeded from one to 10 with the top four teams earning a spot in the Conference final four.

, played on Tuesday, April 13. The highest remaining seed will host the next highest remaining seed on Friday, April 16 for the OAC championship. The two non-winners on Tuesday will also meet at the higher seed to complete an 11-date season.

The six teams not making the final four will also be afforded 11 dates of competition during the week of April 12 by scheduling closer geographic matches at institutional discretion.