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 Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not part of a football conference. This means that FCS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do. As of the 2024 season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart will be competing as independents, as their primary conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, does not sponsor football. They were previously members of the Northeast Conference which does sponsor the sport. Merrimack and Sacred Heart are confirmed to play as FCS independents in 2024.
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and began operating the Big South–OVC Football Association in partnership with the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023. The Big South, founded in 1983, is firmly rooted in the South Atlantic region of the United States, with full member institutions located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Associate members are located in Georgia and South Carolina.
The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was called the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, during the period when the FCS was known as NCAA Division I-AA.
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 Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Campbell Fighting Camels are the athletic teams that represent Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, North Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Coastal Athletic Association since the 2023–24 academic year. The football program competes in the FCS, formerly known as I-AA.
The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), which sponsors sports at the NCAA Division I level. In football, JMU participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-A. JMU was a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA),. The Dukes officially left the CAA and joined the SBC in 2022, participating in Division I FBS football and other sports sponsored by the conference.
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS.
The Idaho Vandals are the college football team that represents the University of Idaho and plays its home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho. Idaho is a member of the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Vandals are coached by Jason Eck.
The Old Dominion Monarchs football program represents Old Dominion University in U.S. college football. The first iteration of the team created in 1930 was known as the William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves. Founded in 2009, the current Monarchs team competed as an FCS independent for their first two seasons. In the 2011 season, they joined the Colonial Athletic Association and added conference games to their schedule, playing there until joining the Conference USA of the FBS in 2014. They joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.
The Villanova Wildcats football program represents Villanova University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
The Georgetown Hoyas football team represents Georgetown University in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level of college football. Like other sports teams from Georgetown, the team is named the Hoyas, which derives from the chant, Hoya Saxa. They play their home games at Cooper Field on the Georgetown University campus in Washington, D.C. Their best season in the recent era was produced in 2011 when the team produced an 8–3 record.
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the FCS level comprises 129 teams in 13 conferences as of the 2024 season. The FCS designation is relevant only for football; members of the subdivision compete in NCAA Division I in all other sports.
The Albany Great Danes football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University at Albany located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of CAA Football, the legally separate football league administered by the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The 2013 season was the Great Danes' first in CAA Football, following a 14-year tenure in the Northeast Conference. Ten years later, they won their first-ever CAA championship, sharing the title with Villanova and Richmond.
The Stony Brook Seawolves football program represents Stony Brook University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level, competing in CAA Football. The Seawolves play at the 12,300-seat Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York.
The Hampton Pirates football team represents Hampton University in college football. The Pirates compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of CAA Football, the legally separate football league operated by the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
The 2023 Campbell Fighting Camels football team represented Campbell University as a member of Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference (CAA) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Campbell, previously a member of the Big South Conference, left that conference to join the CAA after spending 2022 in the Big South Conference. Led by tenth-year head coach Mike Minter, the Fighting Camels played their home games at the Barker–Lane Stadium in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
