1998 season
112 teams across 5 tiers
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- Arkansas StateTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Central MichiganTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- CincinnatiTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Ole MissTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- OregonTier 2▲ 1Premier
Regular season champions
Tier winners — the top finisher in each tier on points, before any promotion playoff or main-playoff games.
Tier standings
Final regular-season standings. Promoted rows tinted green, relegated rows tinted red, survival winners tinted amber.
| Team | ⓘ
| Status | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Florida State | 11 | 1 | 40 | 385 | 138 | +247 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tennessee | 11 | 0 | 39 | 384 | 159 | +225 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UCLA | 10 | 1 | 35 | 445 | 302 | +143 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Ohio State | 10 | 1 | 34 | 406 | 130 | +276 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Texas A&M | 10 | 2 | 34 | 285 | 157 | +128 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kansas State | 11 | 0 | 32 | 543 | 124 | +419 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Arizona | 11 | 1 | 31 | 416 | 216 | +200 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Wisconsin | 10 | 1 | 30 | 344 | 112 | +232 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Nebraska | 9 | 3 | 29 | 383 | 183 | +200 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Notre Dame | 9 | 2 | 29 | 300 | 213 | +87 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Georgia Tech | 9 | 2 | 28 | 391 | 267 | +124 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Tulane | 11 | 0 | 26 | 499 | 268 | +231 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Florida | 9 | 2 | 26 | 349 | 155 | +194 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Arkansas | 9 | 2 | 26 | 359 | 182 | +177 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Virginia | 9 | 2 | 26 | 325 | 212 | +113 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Michigan | 9 | 3 | 26 | 314 | 204 | +110 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Air Force | 10 | 1 | 25 | 403 | 147 | +256 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Penn State | 8 | 3 | 25 | 291 | 169 | +122 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Texas | 8 | 3 | 25 | 399 | 326 | +73 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Syracuse | 8 | 3 | 24 | 468 | 269 | +199 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 8 | 3 | 23 | 343 | 142 | +201 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Purdue | 8 | 4 | 23 | 407 | 242 | +165 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Georgia | 8 | 3 | 23 | 257 | 189 | +68 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Missouri | 7 | 4 | 19 | 300 | 205 | +95 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
Main playoff
Twelve-team championship bracket: top 8 from Premier (seeds 1–8), top 2 from Tier 2 (seeds 9–10), top 2 from Tier 3 (seeds 11–12). Seeds 1–4 receive first-round byes. Champion: Oregon.
Promotion playoffs
Each lower tier sends two teams up automatically (ranks 1 and 2); ranks 3–6 contest a single-elimination playoff for the third promotion spot.
Relegation playoffs
Bottom 4 of each upper tier play a survival bracket. The Survival Final winner stays up; the other three drop down.
1999 starting tiers
Cascade from 1998: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- Florida State1
- Tennessee2
- UCLA3
- Ohio State4
- Texas A&M5
- Kansas State6
- Arizona7
- Wisconsin8
- Nebraska9
- USC10
- Notre Dame11
- Georgia Tech12
- Tulane13
- Florida14
- Arkansas15
- Virginia16
- Michigan17
- Air Force18
- Penn State19
- Texas20
- Syracuse21
- Oregon22
- Virginia Tech23
- West Virginia24
- Purdue1
- Georgia2
- Alabama3
- Colorado State4
- Miami (OH)5
- Mississippi State6
- NC State7
- Wyoming8
- Miami (FL)9
- Missouri10
- Texas Tech11
- Michigan State12
- Colorado13
- Kentucky14
- BYU15
- Southern Miss16
- Marshall17
- TCU18
- Washington19
- San Diego State20
- Rice21
- Ole Miss22
- UCF23
- Utah24
- North Carolina1
- Oklahoma2
- California3
- Louisville4
- Toledo5
- Oklahoma State6
- Arizona State7
- Oregon State8
- LSU9
- Nevada10
- Western Michigan11
- Minnesota12
- Bowling Green13
- SMU14
- Boston College15
- Idaho16
- Fresno State17
- East Carolina18
- Auburn19
- Indiana20
- Stanford21
- Louisiana Tech22
- Central Michigan23
- Ohio24
- San Jose State25
- Washington State26
- Tulsa1
- Kansas2
- Houston3
- North Texas4
- Baylor5
- Rutgers6
- Boise State7
- Duke8
- New Mexico State9
- Iowa State10
- Iowa11
- Army12
- Northwestern13
- Arkansas State14
- Illinois15
- Akron16
- Clemson17
- Utah State18
- UTEP19
- Navy20
- Vanderbilt21
- Maryland22
- Louisiana-Monroe23
- Wake Forest24
- Cincinnati25
- Pittsburgh26
- Temple1
- Eastern Michigan2
- Memphis3
- New Mexico4
- UAB5
- South Carolina6
- Ball State7
- Northern Illinois8
- UNLV9
- Hawaii10
- Louisiana-Lafayette11
- Kent State12