2005 season
119 teams across 5 tiers
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- AlabamaTier 2▲ 1Premier
- ClemsonTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- Louisiana-LafayetteTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- LouisvilleTier 2▲ 1Premier
- MinnesotaTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- IllinoisTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Kent StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- KentuckyTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- MarshallTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- North TexasTier 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 | USC | 12 | 0 | 47 | 600 | 256 | +344 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas | 12 | 0 | 38 | 611 | 175 | +436 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | TCU | 10 | 1 | 35 | 371 | 199 | +172 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Notre Dame | 9 | 2 | 35 | 420 | 260 | +160 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Virginia Tech | 10 | 2 | 33 | 405 | 144 | +261 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Penn State | 10 | 1 | 33 | 387 | 181 | +206 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Georgia | 10 | 2 | 32 | 349 | 175 | +174 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Oregon | 10 | 1 | 32 | 400 | 261 | +139 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Ohio State | 9 | 2 | 30 | 358 | 163 | +195 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | LSU | 10 | 2 | 29 | 343 | 182 | +161 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Wisconsin | 9 | 3 | 27 | 422 | 299 | +123 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Florida | 8 | 3 | 26 | 312 | 202 | +110 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Miami (FL) | 9 | 2 | 25 | 322 | 131 | +191 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | West Virginia | 10 | 1 | 25 | 347 | 179 | +168 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Auburn | 9 | 2 | 24 | 376 | 162 | +214 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Florida State | 8 | 4 | 23 | 353 | 260 | +93 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Michigan | 7 | 4 | 21 | 317 | 212 | +105 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 7 | 4 | 21 | 212 | 203 | +9 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Oklahoma | 7 | 4 | 19 | 306 | 263 | +43 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Colorado State | 6 | 5 | 19 | 291 | 318 | -27 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Utah | 6 | 5 | 16 | 322 | 279 | +43 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Tennessee | 5 | 6 | 16 | 205 | 205 | 0 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Purdue | 5 | 6 | 12 | 330 | 309 | +21 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Washington State | 4 | 7 | 7 | 368 | 346 | +22 | 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: Texas.
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.
2006 starting tiers
Cascade from 2005: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- USC1
- Texas2
- TCU3
- Notre Dame4
- UCLA5
- Virginia Tech6
- Penn State7
- Georgia8
- Oregon9
- Ohio State10
- LSU11
- Alabama12
- Wisconsin13
- Florida14
- Miami (FL)15
- West Virginia16
- Louisville17
- Auburn18
- Florida State19
- Michigan20
- Georgia Tech21
- Oklahoma22
- Colorado State23
- Purdue24
- Minnesota1
- Northwestern2
- Colorado3
- Texas Tech4
- Clemson5
- Arizona State6
- Boise State7
- California8
- Iowa9
- New Mexico10
- Fresno State11
- BYU12
- Virginia13
- Oregon State14
- Utah15
- Nebraska16
- Tennessee17
- Southern Miss18
- Michigan State19
- Miami (OH)20
- Kansas State21
- Texas A&M22
- Washington State23
- Arkansas24
- Tulsa1
- South Carolina2
- Boston College3
- UCF4
- Nevada5
- NC State6
- San Diego State7
- Louisiana Tech8
- North Carolina9
- Memphis10
- Stanford11
- Missouri12
- Air Force13
- Maryland14
- East Carolina15
- Bowling Green16
- Pittsburgh17
- Toledo18
- Hawaii19
- Wyoming20
- Marshall21
- Cincinnati22
- Ole Miss23
- Washington24
- Rice25
- Syracuse26
- Iowa State1
- UTEP2
- Rutgers3
- Navy4
- South Florida5
- Akron6
- Vanderbilt7
- SMU8
- Houston9
- Northern Illinois10
- UAB11
- Wake Forest12
- UConn13
- Louisiana-Lafayette14
- Arizona15
- Ohio16
- Indiana17
- Oklahoma State18
- Utah State19
- Middle Tennessee20
- Troy21
- UNLV22
- San Jose State23
- Tulane24
- Kentucky25
- New Mexico State26
- Central Michigan1
- Kansas2
- Western Michigan3
- Baylor4
- Arkansas State5
- Army6
- Mississippi State7
- Ball State8
- Eastern Michigan9
- Louisiana-Monroe10
- Florida International11
- Idaho12
- North Texas13
- Florida Atlantic14
- Illinois15
- Buffalo16
- Kent State17
- Duke18
- Temple19