| The Pioneer Football League "Formed in November of 1991, the league is comprised of NCAA Division I universities that previously sponsored intercollegiate football at other levels. With the passing of NCAA legislation at the January 1991 convention, Division I institutions were required to conduct all intercollegiate sports at the same level. Therefore, the five charter members, Butler University, University of Dayton, Drake University, University of Evansville and Valparaiso University, joined together, sharing a common academic and athletic philosophy and a common commitment to operate quality football programs. In February, 1992, the University of San Diego joined the PFL for its inaugural season." --PFL press release Some call it "The Dayton Rule." Dayton won two Division III football championships in the 1980s, and only missed postseason play three times between 1980 and 1992. The Flyers played in the national championship game five times. Amid complaints UD's "big time" basketball image gave the school an unfair advantage in football recruiting, a faction successfully lobbied to restrict Division III football to schools in the classification for all sports. Ironically, Dayton (and Drake) had poor men's basketball teams in the early 90s. The rule change also affected schools playing Division II football. In 1993, six schools banned together to play non-scholarship football at the I-AA level: --Drake, Dayton, San Diego, and Evansville played Division III football in 1992. --Butler and Valparaiso had Division II teams in 1992. Both discontinued scholarships to join the PFL. Evansville later dropped football, but the PFL expanded to nine schools for the 2001 season. A significant change was amending the league charter to allow public-supported schools to become members. BACK |