2004 season
118 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Californiafrom Tier 3
- Biggest riser (2004 tiers)
- Auburn▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- Kansas State▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- AuburnTier 2▲ 1Premier
- Bowling GreenTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- CaliforniaTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- CincinnatiTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- Iowa StateTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Arkansas StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- East CarolinaTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- IdahoTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- IllinoisTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- Kansas StatePremier▼ 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 | 12 | 0 | 49 | 441 | 150 | +291 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Oklahoma | 12 | 0 | 40 | 433 | 164 | +269 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Virginia Tech | 10 | 2 | 32 | 387 | 151 | +236 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Michigan | 9 | 2 | 31 | 333 | 241 | +92 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia | 9 | 2 | 30 | 311 | 177 | +134 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Tennessee | 9 | 3 | 30 | 340 | 288 | +52 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Texas | 10 | 1 | 28 | 385 | 178 | +207 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Miami (FL) | 8 | 3 | 28 | 353 | 194 | +159 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | LSU | 9 | 2 | 26 | 319 | 175 | +144 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Purdue | 7 | 4 | 25 | 358 | 179 | +179 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Ohio State | 7 | 4 | 25 | 257 | 212 | +45 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Notre Dame | 6 | 5 | 24 | 268 | 251 | +17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Florida State | 8 | 3 | 22 | 272 | 151 | +121 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Florida | 7 | 4 | 19 | 372 | 226 | +146 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | West Virginia | 8 | 3 | 19 | 343 | 216 | +127 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Oregon | 5 | 6 | 17 | 282 | 282 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Washington State | 5 | 6 | 16 | 275 | 307 | -32 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 6 | 5 | 13 | 213 | 213 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | TCU | 5 | 6 | 12 | 362 | 373 | -11 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Penn State | 4 | 7 | 11 | 195 | 168 | +27 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Kansas State | 4 | 7 | 9 | 326 | 337 | -11 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Nebraska | 5 | 6 | 8 | 275 | 298 | -23 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Colorado State | 4 | 7 | 8 | 261 | 325 | -64 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Washington | 1 | 10 | 3 | 154 | 334 | -180 | 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: California.
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.
2005 starting tiers
Cascade from 2004: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- USC1
- Oklahoma2
- Auburn3
- Utah4
- Virginia Tech5
- Michigan6
- Wisconsin7
- Georgia8
- Tennessee9
- Texas10
- Miami (FL)11
- LSU12
- Purdue13
- Ohio State14
- Notre Dame15
- Florida State16
- Florida17
- West Virginia18
- Oregon19
- Washington State20
- Georgia Tech21
- TCU22
- Penn State23
- Colorado State24
- California1
- Iowa2
- Boise State3
- Arizona State4
- Louisville5
- Colorado6
- Fresno State7
- Virginia8
- Texas A&M9
- New Mexico10
- Oregon State11
- Texas Tech12
- UCLA13
- BYU14
- Southern Miss15
- Miami (OH)16
- Alabama17
- Marshall18
- Michigan State19
- Arkansas20
- Syracuse21
- Kansas State22
- Nebraska23
- Washington24
- Memphis1
- Cincinnati2
- Northwestern3
- Boston College4
- Minnesota5
- Pittsburgh6
- Clemson7
- Oklahoma State8
- Stanford9
- Toledo10
- North Carolina11
- Hawaii12
- NC State13
- South Carolina14
- Louisiana Tech15
- Wyoming16
- Bowling Green17
- Air Force18
- Maryland19
- Tulane20
- Missouri21
- San Diego State22
- Ole Miss23
- Rice24
- East Carolina25
- Kentucky26
- UTEP1
- Troy2
- UAB3
- Iowa State4
- Akron5
- Northern Illinois6
- Navy7
- South Florida8
- North Texas9
- Nevada10
- Indiana11
- Arizona12
- UConn13
- Wake Forest14
- Houston15
- Kent State16
- Ohio17
- Tulsa18
- SMU19
- Middle Tennessee20
- UNLV21
- Utah State22
- Illinois23
- New Mexico State24
- San Jose State25
- UCF26
- Kansas1
- Mississippi State2
- Rutgers3
- Louisiana-Monroe4
- Central Michigan5
- Temple6
- Ball State7
- Baylor8
- Louisiana-Lafayette9
- Army10
- Arkansas State11
- Buffalo12
- Idaho13
- Duke14
- Eastern Michigan15
- Vanderbilt16
- Western Michigan17
- Florida A&M18