2000 season
116 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Miami (FL)from Tier 2
- Biggest riser (2000 tiers)
- Washington▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- Arkansas▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- ClemsonTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- LouisvilleTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- MemphisTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Miami (FL)Tier 2▲ 1Premier
- NorthwesternTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- AlabamaPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- ArkansasPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- BaylorTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Bowling GreenTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- DukeTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
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 | 37 | 509 | 123 | +386 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Notre Dame | 9 | 2 | 34 | 344 | 226 | +118 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Virginia Tech | 10 | 1 | 33 | 443 | 249 | +194 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Michigan | 8 | 3 | 33 | 373 | 201 | +172 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio State | 8 | 3 | 32 | 324 | 198 | +126 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Oregon | 9 | 2 | 31 | 316 | 219 | +97 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Kansas State | 10 | 2 | 27 | 490 | 213 | +277 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Texas | 9 | 2 | 27 | 425 | 197 | +228 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Georgia Tech | 9 | 2 | 27 | 372 | 209 | +163 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Nebraska | 9 | 2 | 26 | 456 | 213 | +243 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Florida | 9 | 2 | 24 | 420 | 230 | +190 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Colorado State | 9 | 2 | 24 | 341 | 208 | +133 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Wisconsin | 8 | 4 | 24 | 307 | 245 | +62 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Tennessee | 8 | 3 | 23 | 359 | 212 | +147 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Texas A&M | 7 | 4 | 22 | 307 | 196 | +111 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | USC | 5 | 7 | 19 | 309 | 337 | -28 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Michigan State | 5 | 6 | 19 | 197 | 233 | -36 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Arizona | 5 | 6 | 18 | 254 | 237 | +17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Penn State | 5 | 7 | 18 | 264 | 293 | -29 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Syracuse | 6 | 5 | 15 | 294 | 212 | +82 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Arkansas | 6 | 5 | 15 | 264 | 258 | +6 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | West Virginia | 6 | 5 | 15 | 307 | 325 | -18 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Virginia | 6 | 5 | 13 | 228 | 255 | -27 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Alabama | 3 | 8 | 7 | 228 | 246 | -18 | 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: Miami (FL).
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.
2001 starting tiers
Cascade from 2000: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- Florida State1
- Washington2
- Notre Dame3
- Virginia Tech4
- Michigan5
- Ohio State6
- Miami (FL)7
- Oregon8
- Kansas State9
- Texas10
- Georgia Tech11
- Nebraska12
- TCU13
- Florida14
- Colorado State15
- Wisconsin16
- Tennessee17
- Texas A&M18
- USC19
- Michigan State20
- Arizona21
- Penn State22
- Syracuse23
- West Virginia24
- Oklahoma1
- Oregon State2
- Purdue3
- UCLA4
- Air Force5
- East Carolina6
- Mississippi State7
- Louisville8
- Georgia9
- Ole Miss10
- Southern Miss11
- Fresno State12
- BYU13
- Stanford14
- Arkansas15
- Texas Tech16
- Virginia17
- Tulane18
- Marshall19
- Miami (OH)20
- Colorado21
- UCF22
- Utah23
- Alabama24
- Auburn1
- Northwestern2
- LSU3
- Clemson4
- NC State5
- Pittsburgh6
- Arizona State7
- Toledo8
- San Jose State9
- Minnesota10
- Western Michigan11
- Ohio12
- North Carolina13
- Boston College14
- California15
- Illinois16
- San Diego State17
- Rice18
- Indiana19
- Houston20
- Idaho21
- Missouri22
- SMU23
- Kentucky24
- Wyoming25
- Louisiana Tech26
- South Carolina1
- UTEP2
- Cincinnati3
- UNLV4
- Iowa State5
- Akron6
- Boise State7
- New Mexico8
- Washington State9
- UAB10
- Maryland11
- Memphis12
- Vanderbilt13
- Kansas14
- Nevada15
- Utah State16
- New Mexico State17
- Hawaii18
- Central Michigan19
- Army20
- Oklahoma State21
- North Texas22
- Rutgers23
- Bowling Green24
- Wake Forest25
- Arkansas State26
- Tulsa1
- Iowa2
- Northern Illinois3
- Temple4
- Middle Tennessee5
- Ball State6
- Eastern Michigan7
- Buffalo8
- Baylor9
- Navy10
- South Florida11
- Duke12
- Kent State13
- UConn14
- Louisiana-Monroe15
- Louisiana-Lafayette16