The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. It is headquartered in St. Louis, in the same complex that also contains the offices of the Missouri Valley Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference. Unlike most other Division I FCS conferences, the Pioneer League consists of institutions that choose not to award athletic scholarships ("grants-in-aid") to football players.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Butler Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Butler University, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bulldogs participate in 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. After leaving the Horizon League following the 2011–12 season, nearly all teams competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team is a founding member of the non-scholarship Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)-level Pioneer League. On March 20, 2013, the Butler administration announced that the school would join the Big East, and moved to the new league July 1, 2013.
The Illinois State Redbirds football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Illinois State University located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1887. The team plays its home games at the 13,391 seat Hancock Stadium. They are coached by Brock Spack.
The Alabama A&M Bulldogs are the college football team representing the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. They play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2009 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began in August 2009 and concluded with the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on December 18, 2009, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, won by Villanova 23–21 over Montana.
The Morehead State Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Morehead State University (MSU), located in Morehead, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) since the 1948–49 academic year; while its football team competes in the Pioneer Football League (PFL). The Eagles previously competed in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48; and in the defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) from 1929–30 to 1932–33.
The Samford Bulldogs football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Samford University located in Homewood, Alabama. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Samford's first football team was fielded in 1902. The team was known as the Howard Bulldogs through the 1965 season when Howard College was renamed as Samford University. Howard was located in Birmingham, Alabama prior to 1957. Since 1958, the Bulldogs have played their home games at Seibert Stadium, which now has a seating capacity of 6,700, in Homewood. Chris Hatcher has served as Samford's head coach since the 2015 season.
The Indiana State Sycamores football team is the NCAA Division I football program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Playoffs in the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship. Their first season was 1896. The Sycamore's greatest season was 1983, when coach Dennis Raetz led them to the 2nd round of the 1983 NCAA Division I Football Championship and ended the season with a record of 9–4. The Sycamores also appeared in 1984 NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. The Indiana State Sycamores play their home games at Memorial Stadium, which seats 12,764.
The Davidson Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Davidson College located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Davidson's first football team was fielded in 1896. The team plays its home games at the 4,741 seat Richardson Stadium in Davidson, North Carolina. The Wildcats are coached by Scott Abell.
The Dayton Flyers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Dayton located in the U.S. state of Ohio. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Dayton's first football team was fielded in 1905. The team plays its home games at the 11,000 seat Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The Flyers are coached by Trevor Andrews.
The Jacksonville State Gamecocks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Jacksonville State University (JSU) located in the U.S. state of Alabama. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Conference USA. Jacksonville State's first football team was fielded in 1904. The team plays its home games at the 24,000-seat Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The Marist Red Foxes football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Marist College located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Marist's first football team was fielded in 1978. The team plays its home games at the 5,000 seat Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Red Foxes are coached by Jim Parady.
The San Diego Toreros football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of San Diego. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League.
The Valparaiso Beacons football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Valparaiso University located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). Valparaiso's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the 5,000-seat Brown Field in Valparaiso, Indiana. Landon Fox has served as the team's head coach since 2019. Valparaiso was known as the Crusaders through the 2019 season.
The 2011 Butler Bulldogs football team represented Butler University as a member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by sixth-year head coach Jeff Voris and played their home games at the Butler Bowl. Butler compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the PFL.
The 2012 Drake Bulldogs football team represented Drake University as member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL) during the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Chris Creighton, the Bulldogs compiled and overall record of 8–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the PFL title with Butler and San Diego. This was the second consecutive season that Drake claimed a share of the conference championship. The team played home games at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
The 2013 Butler Bulldogs football team represented Butler University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Voris and played their home games at the Butler Bowl. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League, a conference allowed to compete in the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2013. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in PFL play to share the league title with Marist. Butler and Marist did not play each other in the regular season, so the PFL used the College Sporting News' Gridiron Power Index to determine who would receive the league's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. Butler was selected and lost in the first round to Tennessee State.
The Gridiron Classic was an annual post-season college football game played from 2006 through 2009. It featured the conference champions from the Pioneer Football League (PFL) and Northeast Conference (NEC), conferences within NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA. The game did not have a set location; it was hosted at the home stadium of one of the participants, alternating between NEC and PFL each playing.
