Pioneer

11 current members, four former. Our membership records under this name start in 1993. 2025 champion: Drake.

2018 standings

TeamConf.OverallPollEloLast 5
San Diego8–⁠09–⁠3201451WWWWL
Stetson6–⁠28–⁠21270WWWLW
Drake6–⁠27–⁠41393WLWWL
Dayton5–⁠36–⁠51326LLWWW
Marist5–⁠35–⁠61236WWWLL
Davidson3–⁠56–⁠51165LLLLW
Butler2–⁠64–⁠71180LLLWL
Morehead State2–⁠63–⁠81099WLLLL
Valparaiso2–⁠62–⁠91161LLLWL
Jacksonville1–⁠72–⁠81150LLWLL

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied. Poll: the FCS coaches’ poll, final (else the final AP rank). Elo is our own rating, a measure of strength, not a prediction.

Against other conferences, 2018

Pioneer teams are 12–⁠17 outside the conference.

The bar is the share of those games won. Games against teams from the FBS count together.

Champions

Most titles

Dayton12last 2015
San Diego11last 2019
Drake9last 2025
Butler4last 2013
Davidson2last 2021
Valparaiso2last 2003
St. Thomas (MN)1last 2022
Marist1last 2013

By year

2025Drake
2024Drake
2023Drake
2022St. Thomas (MN)
2021Davidson
2020Davidson
2019San Diego
2018San Diego
2017San Diego
2016San Diego
2015Dayton, San Diego (shared)
2014San Diego
20 earlier seasons, back to 1993
2013Butler, Marist (shared)
2012Butler, Drake, San Diego (shared)
2011Drake, San Diego (shared)
2010Dayton
2009Butler, Dayton (shared)
2007Dayton, San Diego (shared)
2006San Diego
2005San Diego
2004Drake
2003Valparaiso
2002Dayton
2001Dayton
2000Dayton, Drake, Valparaiso (shared)
1999Dayton
1998Drake
1997Dayton
1996Dayton
1995Drake
1994Butler, Dayton (shared)
1993Dayton

Conference titles as each program’s Wikipedia infobox lists them (CC BY-SA), shared titles counted for every co-champion; the conference’s earlier names count as the same conference.

Members

  1. Butler1993 on
  2. Dayton1993–⁠20192021 on
  3. Drake1993 on
  4. San Diego1993 on
  5. Valparaiso1993 on
  6. Austin Peay2001–⁠2005
  7. Davidson2001 on
  8. Morehead State2001 on
  9. Jacksonville2003–⁠2019
  10. Campbell2008–⁠2017
  11. Marist2009–⁠20192021 on
  12. Mercer2013
  13. Stetson2013 on
  14. Presbyterian2021 on
  15. St. Thomas (MN)2021 on
Every school and its years (15)

Members now

Former members

Football membership as CollegeFootballData.com records it under this conference’s name, from 1993; a school’s separate stays are listed apart.

Who came and went

SeasonSchoolMoveAnnounced
2021PresbyterianJoined (independent before) (football only)November 20, 2017
2021St. Thomas (MN)Joined from MIAC (Division III) (football only)Source
2020JacksonvilleLeft for Dropped football (football only)December 3, 2019
2018CampbellLeft for Big South (football only)November 14, 2016
2014MercerLeft for Southern Conference (football only)May 30, 2013
2013MercerJoined from No team (football only)Source
2013StetsonJoined from No team (football only)Source
2009MaristJoined from (non-football) (football only)Source
2008CampbellJoined from (non-football) (football only)Source
2006Austin PeayLeft to play as an independent (football only)Source
2001Austin PeayJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
2001DavidsonJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
2001 †JacksonvilleJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
2001Morehead StateJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
1998 †EvansvilleLeft for Dropped football (football only)Source
6 earlier moves
1993ButlerJoined from Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (football only)Source
1993DaytonJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
1993DrakeJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
1993 †EvansvilleJoined from ?? (football only)Source
1993San DiegoJoined (independent before) (football only)Source
1993ValparaisoJoined from Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (football only)Source

Football moves from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the season is the first one played in the new conference, and the date the one the lists or their sources give for the announcement. † Our membership records (CollegeFootballData.com) date the move to another season, or don’t show it. SportsDataverse’s football memberships agree with ours in 297 of 299 team-seasons from 1993. the member tables in the conference’s Wikipedia article agree with ours in 297 of 306 team-seasons from 1992. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); memberships: SportsDataverse.

The money

The Pioneer Football League is a nonprofit. Its IRS Form 990 for the year to June 2025 reports $103,000 in revenue and $102,000 in expenses; it ended the year with $129,000 in assets.

By year

YearRevenueExpensesAssetsTop pay
2024-25$103K$102K$129K
2023-24$93K$93K$122K
2022-23$87K$82K$122K
2021-22$96K$85K$117K
2020-21$68K$88K$104K
2019-20$83K$80K$124K
2018-19$60K$62K$122K
2015-16$33K$83K$91K
2014-15$108K$63K$142K
2013-14$136K$87K$97K
2012-13$31K$48K$47K

From the organization’s IRS Form 990, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer and the IRS’s e-file data. Fiscal years end in June; top pay is the best-paid person’s total compensation on the return, listed for e-filed years (2018 on). Grants are the ones the conference lists on Schedule I; bowl payments are the ones bowls list on theirs. See every filing at ProPublica (EIN 37-1700016).