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.
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. Originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978, it was renamed as the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001, and briefly rebranded as the ASUN Conference from 2016 to 2023. The conference still uses "ASUN" as an official abbreviation. The conference headquarters are located in Atlanta.
The Mercer Bears are the athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports. The university competes in the Southern Conference for most sports. In 2013, the football team competed in the Pioneer Football League.
The VMI Keydets are the athletic teams that represent the Virginia Military Institute. All sports participate in the NCAA Division I, and all but three compete in the Southern Conference (the exceptions being men's and women's swimming and diving in the America East Conference, and women's water polo in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. VMI fields teams in sixteen different sports, ten for men and six for women.
The Bellarmine Knights are the athletic teams that represent Bellarmine University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference for most sports in the 2020–21 academic year. The Knights previously competed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) of the NCAA Division II ranks from 1978–79 to 2019–20.
The Richmond Spiders men's lacrosse team represents the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Through the 2022 season, it competed in the NCAA Division I Southern Conference. After that season, the Spiders' full-time home of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) established a men's lacrosse league, with Richmond as one of the six inaugural members. The Spiders play their home games at Robins Stadium and are currently coached by Dan Chemotti.
The 2014 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Moye Complex. They were first-year members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 6–6 overall and 1–6 in SoCon play to tie for seventh place.
The 2015 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Moye Complex in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 5–6 overall and 2–5 in SoCon play to tie for sixth place.
The 2016 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Moye Complex in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 6–5 overall and 4–4 in SoCon play to place fifth.
The 2017–18 Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball team represented the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Mocs, led by fifth-year head coach Jim Foster, played their home games at the McKenzie Arena as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Mocs finished the season 17–13, 8–6 in third place in the SoCon, losing to UNC Greensboro in the conference tournament. They received an at-large berth in the 2018 WNIT and lost in the first round to UAB.
The 2017–18 East Tennessee State Buccaneers women's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The "Bucs", led by fifth-year head coach Brittney Ezell, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Bucs finished the season 20–13, 11–3 in second place in the SoCon, losing to Mercer in the conference tournament. They received a berth in the 2018 WNIT but lost in the first round to the James Madison Dukes.
The 2018 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 5–6 overall and 4–4 in SoCon play to place in a three-way tie for fifth.
The 2018–19 Mercer Bears men's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by 11th-year head coach Bob Hoffman, played their home games at Hawkins Arena on the university's Macon, Georgia campus as fifth-year members of the Southern Conference.
The 2019 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 4–8 overall and 3–5 in SoCon play to place seventh.
The 2020 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Drew Cronic and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 5–6 overall and 5–3 in SoCon play to place fourth.
The 2021 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Bears were led by second-year head coach Drew Cronic and played their home games at Moye Complex in Macon, Georgia.
The 2021 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Buccaneers were led by fourth-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee. On November 20, 2021, the Buccaneers defeated SoCon rival Mercer, clinching the Southern Conference championship. The Buccaneers also finished their regular season with an overall record of 10–1, making only the third time in program history to have won 10 games. They also beat FBS Vanderbilt in a 23-3 blowout win.
The 2021–22 Furman Paladins men's basketball team represented Furman University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Paladins, led by fifth-year head coach Bob Richey, played their home games at Timmons Arena and Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the regular season 20–11, 12–6 in SoCon play to finish second place. They defeated Mercer and Samford in the SoCon tournament to advance to the championship game. There they lost to Chattanooga in overtime.
The 1936 Furman Purple Hurricane football team was an American football team that represented Furman University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1936 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Dizzy McLeod, the team compiled an overall record of 7–2 with a mark of 4–1 in conference play, finishing in third place in the SoCon. Furman defeated Davidson, 14–13, on October 31, in the first game played at Sirrine Stadium.
