2008 season
120 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Pittsburghfrom Tier 3
- Biggest riser (2008 tiers)
- Utah▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- UCLA▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- ArizonaTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- Ball StateTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Boise StateTier 2▲ 1Premier
- BuffaloTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- CincinnatiTier 2▲ 1Premier
- AuburnPremier▼ 1Tier 2
- IndianaTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Iowa StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Miami (OH)Tier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- New Mexico StateTier 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 | 11 | 1 | 44 | 450 | 93 | +357 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Florida | 12 | 1 | 43 | 587 | 167 | +420 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alabama | 12 | 1 | 38 | 405 | 169 | +236 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Penn State | 11 | 1 | 37 | 482 | 149 | +333 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Oklahoma | 12 | 1 | 36 | 702 | 319 | +383 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ohio State | 10 | 2 | 33 | 338 | 157 | +181 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Oregon State | 8 | 4 | 33 | 394 | 300 | +94 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Texas | 11 | 1 | 32 | 527 | 223 | +304 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Oregon | 9 | 3 | 32 | 503 | 336 | +167 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | California | 8 | 4 | 32 | 400 | 242 | +158 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Michigan State | 9 | 3 | 30 | 314 | 263 | +51 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Georgia | 9 | 3 | 29 | 385 | 307 | +78 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Boston College | 9 | 4 | 28 | 332 | 241 | +91 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | BYU | 10 | 2 | 26 | 424 | 254 | +170 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 9 | 4 | 26 | 289 | 227 | +62 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Georgia Tech | 9 | 3 | 24 | 314 | 226 | +88 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | West Virginia | 8 | 4 | 21 | 288 | 191 | +97 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Wisconsin | 7 | 5 | 15 | 344 | 303 | +41 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | LSU | 8 | 5 | 14 | 405 | 324 | +81 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Arizona State | 5 | 7 | 14 | 274 | 272 | +2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | UCLA | 4 | 8 | 13 | 212 | 348 | -136 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Michigan | 3 | 9 | 12 | 243 | 347 | -104 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Auburn | 5 | 7 | 10 | 208 | 216 | -8 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Purdue | 4 | 8 | 9 | 296 | 301 | -5 | 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: Pittsburgh.
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.
2009 starting tiers
Cascade from 2008: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- USC1
- Florida2
- Alabama3
- Penn State4
- Utah5
- Oklahoma6
- Ohio State7
- Oregon State8
- Texas9
- Oregon10
- California11
- Cincinnati12
- Boise State13
- Michigan State14
- Georgia15
- Boston College16
- BYU17
- Virginia Tech18
- Georgia Tech19
- West Virginia20
- Wisconsin21
- LSU22
- Arizona State23
- Michigan24
- Pittsburgh1
- East Carolina2
- Texas Tech3
- TCU4
- Iowa5
- Ole Miss6
- Florida State7
- Miami (FL)8
- Missouri9
- Notre Dame10
- Nebraska11
- Clemson12
- Hawaii13
- Minnesota14
- Virginia15
- Arkansas16
- Colorado17
- UCLA18
- Southern Miss19
- Texas A&M20
- Auburn21
- New Mexico22
- Louisville23
- Purdue24
- Arizona1
- Northwestern2
- Oklahoma State3
- North Carolina4
- Tulsa5
- Wake Forest6
- South Carolina7
- Vanderbilt8
- Maryland9
- Air Force10
- Fresno State11
- Stanford12
- Rutgers13
- Bowling Green14
- South Florida15
- NC State16
- Colorado State17
- Houston18
- Kentucky19
- Nevada20
- Tennessee21
- Toledo22
- Wyoming23
- Kansas State24
- UCF25
- Washington State26
- Ball State1
- Rice2
- UConn3
- Kansas4
- Buffalo5
- Navy6
- Northern Illinois7
- Western Michigan8
- Illinois9
- Central Michigan10
- UTEP11
- San Jose State12
- Memphis13
- Louisiana Tech14
- Akron15
- Marshall16
- Troy17
- UAB18
- Syracuse19
- Middle Tennessee20
- Ohio21
- Kent State22
- Miami (OH)23
- Tulane24
- Washington25
- San Diego State26
- UNLV1
- Baylor2
- Arkansas State3
- Temple4
- Louisiana-Lafayette5
- Duke6
- Florida International7
- Mississippi State8
- Florida Atlantic9
- Utah State10
- Eastern Michigan11
- New Mexico State12
- Louisiana-Monroe13
- Indiana14
- Army15
- Iowa State16
- Idaho17
- North Texas18
- Western Kentucky19
- SMU20