2001 season
117 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Miami (FL)from Premier
- Biggest riser (2001 tiers)
- BYU▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- TCU▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- Air ForceTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- ArizonaPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- Arkansas StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- CaliforniaTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- HoustonTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
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 | Miami (FL) | 11 | 0 | 40 | 475 | 103 | +372 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Oregon | 10 | 1 | 37 | 374 | 240 | +134 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Nebraska | 11 | 1 | 35 | 449 | 189 | +260 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Tennessee | 10 | 2 | 35 | 355 | 234 | +121 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Syracuse | 9 | 3 | 30 | 308 | 244 | +64 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 8 | 3 | 30 | 310 | 323 | -13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Texas | 10 | 2 | 29 | 470 | 164 | +306 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Florida | 9 | 2 | 28 | 482 | 155 | +327 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Michigan | 8 | 3 | 28 | 303 | 192 | +111 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Virginia Tech | 8 | 3 | 23 | 359 | 147 | +212 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Ohio State | 7 | 4 | 23 | 284 | 213 | +71 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | USC | 6 | 5 | 22 | 292 | 197 | +95 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Michigan State | 6 | 5 | 21 | 330 | 276 | +54 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Penn State | 5 | 6 | 20 | 248 | 281 | -33 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Florida State | 7 | 4 | 19 | 373 | 287 | +86 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Texas A&M | 7 | 4 | 18 | 220 | 204 | +16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Notre Dame | 5 | 6 | 18 | 214 | 215 | -1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Kansas State | 6 | 5 | 17 | 327 | 179 | +148 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Colorado State | 6 | 5 | 17 | 253 | 254 | -1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Georgia Tech | 7 | 5 | 15 | 381 | 267 | +114 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | TCU | 6 | 5 | 15 | 280 | 257 | +23 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Wisconsin | 5 | 7 | 15 | 313 | 346 | -33 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Arizona | 5 | 6 | 14 | 320 | 377 | -57 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | West Virginia | 3 | 8 | 6 | 235 | 268 | -33 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
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.
2002 starting tiers
Cascade from 2001: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- Miami (FL)1
- BYU2
- Oregon3
- Colorado4
- Nebraska5
- Tennessee6
- Oklahoma7
- Syracuse8
- Washington9
- Texas10
- Florida11
- Michigan12
- Virginia Tech13
- Ohio State14
- USC15
- Michigan State16
- Penn State17
- Florida State18
- Texas A&M19
- Notre Dame20
- Kansas State21
- Colorado State22
- Georgia Tech23
- West Virginia24
- Illinois1
- Stanford2
- Fresno State3
- LSU4
- Louisville5
- Georgia6
- UCLA7
- Indiana8
- Alabama9
- Arkansas10
- Texas Tech11
- Marshall12
- Utah13
- Southern Miss14
- Purdue15
- Ole Miss16
- East Carolina17
- Oregon State18
- TCU19
- Wisconsin20
- Miami (OH)21
- Arizona22
- Virginia23
- UCF24
- Maryland1
- Washington State2
- North Carolina3
- Auburn4
- South Carolina5
- NC State6
- Boston College7
- Toledo8
- Louisiana Tech9
- Pittsburgh10
- Clemson11
- Rice12
- Air Force13
- Arizona State14
- Minnesota15
- Northwestern16
- SMU17
- Mississippi State18
- San Diego State19
- Western Michigan20
- Tulane21
- Missouri22
- San Jose State23
- Kentucky24
- Ohio25
- Wyoming26
- Hawaii1
- Boise State2
- Iowa3
- Bowling Green4
- New Mexico5
- UAB6
- Cincinnati7
- Middle Tennessee8
- Wake Forest9
- Iowa State10
- UNLV11
- South Florida12
- Memphis13
- North Texas14
- Oklahoma State15
- New Mexico State16
- Army17
- Nevada18
- Kansas19
- Akron20
- Utah State21
- Central Michigan22
- California23
- Vanderbilt24
- Houston25
- Idaho26
- Kent State1
- Temple2
- Northern Illinois3
- Troy4
- Ball State5
- Buffalo6
- Louisiana-Lafayette7
- Baylor8
- Rutgers9
- UTEP10
- Louisiana-Monroe11
- Navy12
- UConn13
- Tulsa14
- Duke15
- Eastern Michigan16
- Arkansas State17