The three teams at the top of the standings - Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech - each won on Saturday to claim a share of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Football Championship.
Eastern Kentucky topped UT Martin at home, Tennessee Tech dispatched Austin Peay at home and Jacksonville State went on the road to beat Tennessee State.
Tennessee Tech (7-3, 6-2) earned its first OVC Championship since the 1975 season and 10th overall crown.
Eastern Kentucky (7-4, 6-2) earned its 21st OVC Championship and first since 2008. The 21 OVC crowns are not only the most in OVC history but tied for the most in Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) history (with Massachusetts).
Jacksonville State (7-4, 6-2) earned its third OVC Championship and first since 2004.
The three teams share this year's crown, but with the tiebreaker (TTU beat both EKU and JSU), Tennessee Tech earned the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Championship, which will mark the team's first-ever appearance in the event.
Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State and Murray State, who each reached seven Division I victories, will have to wait to see if they can earn an at-large bid into the field.
The field for the 2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship will be announced on Sunday morning (Nov. 20) at 9 a.m. CT in a 30-minute special on ESPNU.
The playoffs start with first round action (8 teams) on Saturday, Nov. 26; 12 teams will receive first round byes and not play until Saturday, Dec. 3. Quarterfinal games will be played on December 9 and 10, the semifinals will be held on December 16 and 17 and the National Championship will be held in Frisco, Texas (Pizza Hut Park), this year on Saturday, January 7.
In the 33 years of the FCS playoffs (which started in 1979), the OVC has placed two teams in the playoffs 16 total times, including a season ago.