Bulldogs

Every autumn since the Missouri Valley Conference days, the Drake–Northern Iowa rivalry has carried something extra: two Iowa schools that once fought for the same conference title now meet as members of the Pioneer Football League.

The Bulldogs did not always answer to that name. Through the program's early years the team was known simply as the Drakes, until coach John L. Griffith began bringing English Bulldogs to the sideline. A suggestion from Des Moines Register sports editor Art Gordon turned the mascot into the nickname in 1908, and it has stuck ever since.

Conference titles came in bunches decades apart. Drake swept the Missouri Valley crown five years running from 1928 to 1931 and again in 1933, then went quiet on that front until 1972 and 1981. The Pioneer Football League era has been kinder: championships in 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2004, then a long gap before the 2023 title, the program's first undisputed conference championship since that 2004 season. Titles followed again in 2024 and 2025.

Johnny Bright's name still carries weight in Des Moines. The halfback went first overall in the 1952 NFL Draft but built his career in the CFL instead, a path that ended with a place in that league's Hall of Fame. Billy Cundiff took a more conventional route, kicking his way through a long NFL career with stops including Dallas and Baltimore, and earned First-team All-Pro honours and a Pro Bowl selection in 2010.