FCS conference belt
The Pioneer Belt
A companion lineage restricted to Pioneer: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two Pioneer members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in Pioneer at the time. Caught it by beating San Diego on October 24, 2026.
Next Pioneer gameDayton at Stetson · October 31, 2026 · YouTube — Stetson takes it with a win.
44Reigns
156Belt Games
11Programs
Longest Reign
San Diego — 2 yrs, 12 days
October 15, 2005 – October 27, 2007
Most Defenses, One Reign
Drake — 15
starting November 12, 2022
Most Reigns, All-Time
Dayton — 9 separate reigns
11 Pioneer programs have held it
| # | Team | Reign | Length | Def. | Won it | Lost it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dayton | September 17, 2005 – October 15, 2005 | 28 days | 3 | Established it (first game on record) | lost to San Diego |
| 2 | San Diego | October 15, 2005 – October 27, 2007 | 2 yrs, 12 days | 14 | beat Dayton 48–24 | lost to Dayton |
| 3 | Dayton | October 27, 2007 – November 15, 2008 | 1 yr, 19 days | 8 | beat San Diego 35–16 | lost to Morehead State |
| 4 | Morehead State | November 15, 2008 – September 26, 2009 | 315 days | 1 | beat Dayton 14–13 | lost to Butler |
| 5 | Butler | September 26, 2009 – November 14, 2009 | 49 days | 4 | beat Morehead State 28–21 | lost to Jacksonville |
| 6 | Jacksonville | November 14, 2009 – November 5, 2011 | 1 yr, 356 days | 14 | beat Butler 36–7 | lost to Drake |
| 7 | Drake | November 5, 2011 – November 3, 2012 | 364 days | 6 | beat Jacksonville 31–24 | lost to Dayton |
| 8 | Dayton | November 3, 2012 – September 28, 2013 | 329 days | 1 | beat Drake 28–13 | lost to Marist |
| 9 | Marist | September 28, 2013 – October 12, 2013 | 14 days | 1 | beat Dayton 31–20 | lost to San Diego |
| 10 | San Diego | October 12, 2013 – October 19, 2013 | 7 days | 0 | beat Marist 35–33 | lost to Dayton |
| 11 | Dayton | October 19, 2013 – November 2, 2013 | 14 days | 1 | beat San Diego 45–38 | lost to Butler |
| 12 | Butler | November 2, 2013 – September 27, 2014 | 329 days | 2 | beat Dayton 33–30 | lost to Jacksonville |
| 13 | Jacksonville | September 27, 2014 – November 1, 2014 | 35 days | 2 | beat Butler 35–7 | lost to Marist |
| 14 | Marist | November 1, 2014 – November 8, 2014 | 7 days | 0 | beat Jacksonville 17–16 | lost to Stetson |
| 15 | Stetson | November 8, 2014 – November 15, 2014 | 7 days | 0 | beat Marist 22–14 | lost to Morehead State |
| 16 | Morehead State | November 15, 2014 – October 3, 2015 | 322 days | 1 | beat Stetson 41–18 | lost to Jacksonville |
| 17 | Jacksonville | October 3, 2015 – October 24, 2015 | 21 days | 1 | beat Morehead State 30–26 | lost to Drake |
| 18 | Drake | October 24, 2015 – October 31, 2015 | 7 days | 0 | beat Jacksonville 28–24 | lost to Morehead State |
| 19 | Morehead State | October 31, 2015 – November 7, 2015 | 7 days | 0 | beat Drake 38–35 | lost to Dayton |
| 20 | Dayton | November 7, 2015 – November 21, 2015 | 14 days | 1 | beat Morehead State 20–15 | lost to Drake |
| 21 | Drake | November 21, 2015 – October 1, 2016 | 315 days | 1 | beat Dayton 27–17 | lost to Dayton |
| 22 | Dayton | October 1, 2016 – September 23, 2017 | 357 days | 6 | beat Drake 35–10 | lost to Morehead State |
| 23 | Morehead State | September 23, 2017 – September 30, 2017 | 7 days | 0 | beat Dayton 34–28 | lost to Campbell |
| 24 | Campbell | September 30, 2017 – October 21, 2017 | 21 days | 2 | beat Morehead State 38–0 | lost to Butler |
| 25 | Butler | October 21, 2017 – October 28, 2017 | 7 days | 0 | beat Campbell 37–23 | lost to Dayton |
| 26 | Dayton | October 28, 2017 – November 18, 2017 | 21 days | 1 | beat Butler 27–22 | lost to Valparaiso |
| 27 | Valparaiso | November 18, 2017 – September 29, 2018 | 315 days | 0 | beat Dayton 8–7 | lost to Davidson |
| 28 | Davidson | September 29, 2018 – October 13, 2018 | 14 days | 1 | beat Valparaiso 40–35 | lost to Morehead State |
| 29 | Morehead State | October 13, 2018 – October 27, 2018 | 14 days | 1 | beat Davidson 35–28 | lost to Marist |
| 30 | Marist | October 27, 2018 – November 10, 2018 | 14 days | 1 | beat Morehead State 48–21 | lost to Drake |
| 31 | Drake | November 10, 2018 – November 2, 2019 | 357 days | 5 | beat Marist 13–10 | lost to San Diego |
| 32 | San Diego | November 2, 2019 – September 25, 2021 | 1 yr, 327 days | 3 | beat Drake 49–7 | lost to Davidson |
| 33 | Davidson | September 25, 2021 – November 13, 2021 | 49 days | 5 | beat San Diego 28–16 | lost to Dayton |
| 34 | Dayton | November 13, 2021 – October 8, 2022 | 329 days | 1 | beat Davidson 38–29 | lost to Butler |
| 35 | Butler | October 8, 2022 – November 12, 2022 | 35 days | 4 | beat Dayton 31–0 | lost to Drake |
| 36 | Drake | November 12, 2022 – November 16, 2024 | 2 yrs, 4 days | 15 | beat Butler 27–24 | lost to Morehead State |
| 37 | Morehead State | November 16, 2024 – November 23, 2024 | 7 days | 0 | beat Drake 29–20 | lost to San Diego |
| 38 | San Diego | November 23, 2024 – October 4, 2025 | 315 days | 1 | beat Morehead State 37–14 | lost to Marist |
| 39 | Marist | October 4, 2025 – October 18, 2025 | 14 days | 0 | beat San Diego 19–14 | lost to Morehead State |
| 40 | Morehead State | October 18, 2025 – November 22, 2025 | 35 days | 3 | beat Marist 23–21 | lost to Drake |
| 41 | Drake | November 22, 2025 – October 10, 2026 | 322 days | 2 | beat Morehead State 17–10 | lost to Valparaiso |
| 42 | Valparaiso | October 10, 2026 – October 17, 2026 | 7 days | 0 | beat Drake 21–13 | lost to San Diego |
| 43 | San Diego | October 17, 2026 – October 24, 2026 | 7 days | 0 | beat Valparaiso 38–13 | lost to Dayton |
| 44 | Dayton | October 24, 2026 – Present | 7 days | 0 | beat San Diego 37–32 | — present — |
No reigns match “.”
Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in Pioneer keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.