2002 season

117 teams across 5 tiers · ingest from CFBD regular season

← all seasons
National champion
USCfrom Premier
Biggest riser (1999 tiers)
Biggest faller
Texas A&M1 tier

Regular season champions

Tier winners — the top finisher in each tier on points, before any promotion playoff or main-playoff games.

Premier45 pts
13-0 · +220 diff
Tier 237 pts
10-2 · +155 diff
Tier 328 pts
11-1 · +335 diff
Tier 440 pts
11-1 · +249 diff
Tier 518 pts
9-2 · +135 diff

Tier standings

Final regular-season standings within each tier. Promoted rows tinted green, relegated rows tinted red, survival winners tinted amber.

Premier24 teams
TeamStatus
1Ohio State13045379159+220
2USC10245427223+204
3Georgia12139424199+225
4Notre Dame10236284189+95
5Michigan9336323235+88
6Penn State9332437214+223
7Oklahoma11231507202+305
8Texas10230404192+212
9UCLA7529360313+47
10Florida State9428415275+140
11Washington7526374308+66
12Virginia Tech9425409250+159
13Oregon7525400324+76
14Florida8425306241+65
15Oregon State8423401229+172
16Arkansas9423356248+108
17Kansas State10221548127+421
18Tennessee8421293197+96
19Georgia Tech7519259237+22
20Nebraska7617360308+52
21BYU5715272333-61Survived
22Texas A&M6614345280+65Relegated
23Michigan State4810316398-82Relegated
24Stanford297225377-152Relegated
Tier 224 teams
TeamStatus
1Washington State10237417262+155Promoted
2Miami (FL)12036503217+286Promoted
3Alabama10334367200+167
4Colorado State10334415315+100
5Colorado9431370294+76
6Arizona State8530425373+52Promoted (playoff)
7Texas Tech8525482424+58
8TCU9224344219+125
9Fresno State8523348358-10
10Auburn8422375222+153
11Wisconsin7622341294+47
12Air Force8420427283+144
13Virginia8519354326+28
14Marshall10217419300+119
15Purdue6617352264+88
16Southern Miss7516259205+54
17Illinois5715346307+39
18Ole Miss6615324308+16
19Miami (OH)7514384325+59
20East Carolina4811335399-64
21San Diego State4910309411-102Relegated
22Syracuse488347406-59Survived
23Arizona488227310-83Relegated
24Mississippi State393227339-112Relegated
Tier 326 teams
TeamStatus
1Boise State11128559224+335Promoted
2California7527427318+109Promoted
3Hawaii10325474353+121Promoted (playoff)
4Maryland10323421225+196
5West Virginia9323374254+120
6LSU8423303203+100
7NC State10321432232+200
8Kentucky7521385301+84
9Pittsburgh8421293219+74
10Boston College8420341228+113
11Louisville7520359281+78
12Minnesota7517347305+42
13Clemson7516315294+21
14Nevada5716331371-40
15Toledo9414470327+143
16Utah5613249226+23
17Missouri5713360352+8
18San Jose State6713376467-91
19Tulane7512325254+71
20North Carolina399223421-198
21Rice477253296-43
22Indiana396258445-187
23SMU395207378-171Survived
24Northwestern395272493-221Relegated
25Western Michigan484303330-27Relegated
26Idaho2103285428-143Relegated
Tier 426 teams
TeamStatus
1Iowa11140467218+249Promoted
2Oklahoma State7521413333+80Promoted
3Cincinnati7618390305+85Promoted (playoff)
4Wake Forest6618318310+8
5Iowa State7617388362+26
6New Mexico7616328331-3
7Bowling Green9315490304+186
8Northern Illinois8413375298+77
9UCF7513391315+76
10New Mexico State7512327328-1
11South Carolina5712225262-37
12Houston5711320393-73
13UAB5711268370-102
14North Texas7510225173+52
15Louisiana Tech488320426-106
16Akron486325379-54
17Memphis395303327-24
18Central Michigan485267384-117
19Utah State475305432-127
20Wyoming2104288432-144
21Middle Tennessee483297332-35
22UTEP2103220511-291
23Ohio482299374-75Survived
24Vanderbilt2101221368-147Relegated
25Kansas2101248507-259Relegated
26Army1110226491-265Relegated
Tier 517 teams
TeamStatus
1South Florida9218339204+135Promoted
2UNLV5716292366-74Promoted
3Ball State668278333-55Promoted (playoff)
4UConn667373270+103
5Arkansas State677259361-102
6Temple486242351-109
7Louisiana-Lafayette396203352-149
8Duke2105227353-126
9Navy2105290436-146
10Louisiana-Monroe393236451-215
11Baylor393202496-294
12Tulsa1112233417-184
13Eastern Michigan392286566-280
14Kent State391202424-222
15Troy480218252-34
16Rutgers111-1167397-230
17Buffalo111-2214416-202

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: USC.

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.

Tier 2→ up to Tier 1
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4

Relegation playoffs

Bottom 4 of each upper tier play a survival bracket. The Survival Final winner stays up; the other three drop down.

Premierbottom 4 · survivor: BYU

Survival Final· winner stays up

Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: Syracuse

Survival Final· winner stays up

Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: SMU

Survival Final· winner stays up

Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Ohio

Survival Final· winner stays up

2003 starting tiers

Cascade from 2002: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.

Premier24
  1. Ohio State1
  2. USC2
  3. Georgia3
  4. Washington State4
  5. Miami (FL)5
  6. Notre Dame6
  7. Michigan7
  8. Penn State8
  9. Oklahoma9
  10. Texas10
  11. Arizona State11
  12. UCLA12
  13. Florida State13
  14. Washington14
  15. Virginia Tech15
  16. Oregon16
  17. Florida17
  18. Oregon State18
  19. Arkansas19
  20. Kansas State20
  21. Tennessee21
  22. Georgia Tech22
  23. Nebraska23
  24. BYU24
Tier 224
  1. Alabama1
  2. Colorado State2
  3. Colorado3
  4. Boise State4
  5. California5
  6. Hawaii6
  7. Texas Tech7
  8. TCU8
  9. Fresno State9
  10. Auburn10
  11. Wisconsin11
  12. Air Force12
  13. Virginia13
  14. Marshall14
  15. Purdue15
  16. Southern Miss16
  17. Illinois17
  18. Ole Miss18
  19. Texas A&M19
  20. Miami (OH)20
  21. East Carolina21
  22. Michigan State22
  23. Syracuse23
  24. Stanford24
Tier 326
  1. Iowa1
  2. Maryland2
  3. West Virginia3
  4. LSU4
  5. NC State5
  6. Kentucky6
  7. Oklahoma State7
  8. Pittsburgh8
  9. Boston College9
  10. Louisville10
  11. Cincinnati11
  12. Minnesota12
  13. Clemson13
  14. Nevada14
  15. Toledo15
  16. Utah16
  17. Missouri17
  18. San Jose State18
  19. Tulane19
  20. San Diego State20
  21. North Carolina21
  22. Arizona22
  23. Rice23
  24. Indiana24
  25. SMU25
  26. Mississippi State26
Tier 426
  1. South Florida1
  2. Wake Forest2
  3. Iowa State3
  4. New Mexico4
  5. UNLV5
  6. Bowling Green6
  7. Northern Illinois7
  8. UCF8
  9. New Mexico State9
  10. South Carolina10
  11. Houston11
  12. UAB12
  13. North Texas13
  14. Ball State14
  15. Louisiana Tech15
  16. Akron16
  17. Memphis17
  18. Central Michigan18
  19. Utah State19
  20. Northwestern20
  21. Western Michigan21
  22. Wyoming22
  23. Middle Tennessee23
  24. Idaho24
  25. UTEP25
  26. Ohio26
Tier 517
  1. UConn1
  2. Arkansas State2
  3. Temple3
  4. Louisiana-Lafayette4
  5. Duke5
  6. Navy6
  7. Louisiana-Monroe7
  8. Baylor8
  9. Tulsa9
  10. Eastern Michigan10
  11. Vanderbilt11
  12. Kent State12
  13. Kansas13
  14. Troy14
  15. Army15
  16. Rutgers16
  17. Buffalo17