Pioneer Football League, including Morehead State, not playing this fall

The Pioneer Football League, which includes Morehead State, and the Big Sky Conference both announced Friday that they will not play a fall football schedule.

Those decisions likely mean there will be no Football Championship Subdivision playoffs this season. The NCAA this week announced it would not conduct championship events in sports where at least 50 percent of the participating schools do not play a fall regular season. More than 70 of the 127 FCS schools have said they will not play in the fall, the Associated Press reported.

The Pioneer League spans from the Midwest to the West Coast. The conference said in a statement the challenges related to team travel, meeting state, local and institutional health requirements and COVID-19 mitigation strategies led to the decision. The Pioneer Football League said it would consider playing a football season at another point in the school year if feasible.

“We recognize that our student-athletes will be disappointed, but our highest priority is the health and safety of all those involved in our athletic programs,” said James M. Danko, the president of Butler University and the chair of the PFL, in a release by the league. “Ultimately, the risks of proceeding are simply too high especially to ensure the safety of our students.”

The Big Sky voted to attempt to move football to the spring.

“This is the right decision for our member institutions, even though we realize how disappointing it will be for all who represent and care about Big Sky football,” Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said, according to a news release. “We will now shift our attention to doing everything within our power to provide our football student-athletes and coaches with a conference schedule and a championship opportunity in the spring. We already have begun actively engaging our fellow FCS conferences and the NCAA to join us then for what will be a unique opportunity to return to competition and compete for an FCS championship.”

In addition to Morehead State and Butler, the Pioneer Football League also includes Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Marist, San Diego, Stetson and Valparaiso. Presbyterian and St. Thomas will join the league in 2021.

Morehead finished the 2019 season with a 5-7 record, including 3-5 in league play.

This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 12:10 PM.