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 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 known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.
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 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 2023 season, there are 10 conferences and 133 schools in FBS.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Eastern Illinois University located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1899. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat O'Brien Field, which is named after former head coach Maynard O'Brien.
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 128 teams in 14 conferences as of the 2023 season. The FCS designation is only tied to football with the non-football sports programs of each school generally competing in NCAA Division I.
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-sportts 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 Butler Bulldogs football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Butler University located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Butler's first football team was fielded in 1887. The team plays its home games at the 7,500 seat Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs are coached by Mike Uremovich.
The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season was the first season of Division I-AA college football; Division I-AA was created in January 1978, when Division I was subdivided into Division I-A and Division I-AA for football only. With the exception of seven teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Division I teams from the 1977 season played in Division I-A in 1978. The SWAC teams, along with five conferences and five other teams formerly in Division II football, played in Division I-AA.
The Morehead State Eagles football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Morehead State University located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League, the only public school in the conference. Morehead State's first football team was fielded in 1927. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat Jayne Stadium in Morehead, Kentucky.
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 Mike Willis.
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.
Mike Kelly is a former American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Dayton from 1981 to 2007. In 27 years as the head coach at Dayton, he compiled a record of 246–54–1. He led the Dayton Flyers to the NCAA Division III Football Championship in 1989 and appearances in the title game three other times, in 1981, 1987, and 1991. Kelly ranks among the top 25 college football coaches of all time in winning percentage (.819). Among coaches with at least 25 years of experience, he has the fifth best winning percentage of all time.
The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, and women's golf plays in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while all other sports compete in the non-football Atlantic 10 Conference.
The 1993 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began in August 1993, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 1993 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Mount Union Purple Raiders won their first Division III championship by defeating the Rowan Profs, 34−24. The first Gagliardi Trophy was awarded to Mount Union's quarterback Jim Ballard.
The Austin Peay Governors football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Austin Peay State University, located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and played the most recent 2022 season as members of the ASUN Conference. For the 2023 season and beyond, Peay will play in the United Athletic Conference, created shortly after the 2022 season by the merger of the football leagues of the ASUN and Western Athletic Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1930. They were previously a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and the Pioneer Football League (2001–2005). Austin Peay Governors football plays its home games at the 10,000 seat Fortera Stadium.
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.
The Dayton–Drake football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Dayton Flyers and Drake Bulldogs. The rivalry began in 1952 and the teams have meet annually since 1987.
