2003 season
117 teams across 5 tiers
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- Boise StateTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- HawaiiTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- IowaTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- Kent StateTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- LSUTier 2▲ 1Premier
- AlabamaPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- ArizonaTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- BYUPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- Central MichiganTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- ColoradoPremier▼ 1Tier 2
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 | USC | 11 | 1 | 43 | 506 | 225 | +281 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Oklahoma | 12 | 1 | 41 | 587 | 193 | +394 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Florida State | 10 | 2 | 36 | 405 | 201 | +204 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Michigan | 10 | 2 | 35 | 446 | 191 | +255 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio State | 10 | 2 | 35 | 287 | 201 | +86 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Miami (FL) | 10 | 2 | 34 | 345 | 182 | +163 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Georgia | 10 | 3 | 33 | 337 | 176 | +161 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Tennessee | 10 | 2 | 33 | 351 | 212 | +139 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Texas | 10 | 2 | 31 | 513 | 252 | +261 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Kansas State | 11 | 3 | 26 | 489 | 188 | +301 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Nebraska | 9 | 3 | 26 | 305 | 185 | +120 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Oregon | 8 | 4 | 26 | 326 | 317 | +9 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | West Virginia | 8 | 4 | 25 | 369 | 256 | +113 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | TCU | 11 | 1 | 24 | 349 | 242 | +107 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Florida | 8 | 4 | 23 | 373 | 234 | +139 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Virginia Tech | 8 | 4 | 21 | 411 | 247 | +164 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Washington | 6 | 6 | 21 | 312 | 316 | -4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Colorado State | 7 | 5 | 20 | 360 | 283 | +77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Georgia Tech | 6 | 6 | 16 | 222 | 256 | -34 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Notre Dame | 5 | 7 | 16 | 243 | 315 | -72 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Colorado | 5 | 7 | 15 | 319 | 398 | -79 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | BYU | 4 | 8 | 12 | 196 | 310 | -114 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Alabama | 4 | 9 | 11 | 331 | 333 | -2 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Penn State | 3 | 9 | 5 | 233 | 255 | -22 | 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: Michigan.
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.
2004 starting tiers
Cascade from 2003: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- USC1
- Oklahoma2
- LSU3
- Florida State4
- Michigan5
- Ohio State6
- Miami (FL)7
- Georgia8
- Tennessee9
- Purdue10
- Washington State11
- Texas12
- Kansas State13
- Nebraska14
- Oregon15
- West Virginia16
- TCU17
- Florida18
- Virginia Tech19
- Washington20
- Colorado State21
- Georgia Tech22
- Notre Dame23
- Penn State24
- Iowa1
- Utah2
- Boise State3
- Miami (OH)4
- Wisconsin5
- Ole Miss6
- Michigan State7
- Arkansas8
- Southern Miss9
- Maryland10
- UCLA11
- Louisville12
- Texas Tech13
- Virginia14
- Syracuse15
- Fresno State16
- Auburn17
- Oregon State18
- Marshall19
- Colorado20
- Arizona State21
- BYU22
- Alabama23
- East Carolina24
- California1
- Minnesota2
- Clemson3
- Oklahoma State4
- New Mexico5
- Missouri6
- Pittsburgh7
- Hawaii8
- Boston College9
- Northwestern10
- NC State11
- Air Force12
- Stanford13
- Toledo14
- Rice15
- Wyoming16
- South Carolina17
- Louisiana Tech18
- San Diego State19
- Tulane20
- Texas A&M21
- Kentucky22
- North Carolina23
- San Jose State24
- UCF25
- Illinois26
- Memphis1
- Northern Illinois2
- Tulsa3
- Bowling Green4
- Houston5
- UNLV6
- North Texas7
- Wake Forest8
- Nevada9
- UConn10
- South Florida11
- Navy12
- Cincinnati13
- Akron14
- Kent State15
- UAB16
- Western Michigan17
- Arizona18
- Utah State19
- Arkansas State20
- Middle Tennessee21
- Ohio22
- Indiana23
- New Mexico State24
- SMU25
- Idaho26
- Kansas1
- Duke2
- Troy3
- Rutgers4
- Baylor5
- Ball State6
- Louisiana-Lafayette7
- Vanderbilt8
- Mississippi State9
- Eastern Michigan10
- Iowa State11
- Central Michigan12
- UTEP13
- Army14
- Temple15
- Buffalo16
- Louisiana-Monroe17