2009 season
120 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Oregonfrom Premier
- Biggest riser (2009 tiers)
- TCU▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- Michigan State▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- ArizonaTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- Central MichiganTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- ClemsonTier 2▲ 1Premier
- IdahoTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- IowaTier 2▲ 1Premier
- Arizona StatePremier▼ 1Tier 2
- Ball StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Colorado StateTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- HawaiiTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- LouisvilleTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
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 | Oregon | 10 | 2 | 41 | 452 | 283 | +169 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas | 13 | 0 | 40 | 529 | 197 | +332 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alabama | 13 | 0 | 39 | 412 | 143 | +269 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Cincinnati | 12 | 0 | 35 | 478 | 249 | +229 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Florida | 12 | 1 | 34 | 451 | 150 | +301 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | USC | 8 | 4 | 33 | 320 | 245 | +75 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Ohio State | 10 | 2 | 32 | 351 | 146 | +205 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Georgia Tech | 11 | 2 | 32 | 459 | 323 | +136 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Boise State | 13 | 0 | 30 | 574 | 230 | +344 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Virginia Tech | 9 | 3 | 30 | 377 | 189 | +188 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | BYU | 10 | 2 | 29 | 417 | 260 | +157 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Wisconsin | 9 | 3 | 28 | 393 | 269 | +124 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Penn State | 10 | 2 | 25 | 356 | 142 | +214 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | West Virginia | 9 | 3 | 25 | 319 | 249 | +70 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | California | 8 | 4 | 25 | 351 | 294 | +57 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | LSU | 9 | 3 | 24 | 306 | 192 | +114 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Georgia | 7 | 5 | 24 | 332 | 317 | +15 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Utah | 9 | 3 | 23 | 351 | 236 | +115 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Oregon State | 8 | 4 | 23 | 389 | 281 | +108 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Boston College | 8 | 4 | 21 | 309 | 233 | +76 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Oklahoma | 7 | 5 | 16 | 373 | 162 | +211 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Michigan State | 6 | 6 | 16 | 355 | 301 | +54 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Michigan | 5 | 7 | 8 | 354 | 330 | +24 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Arizona State | 4 | 8 | 6 | 268 | 253 | +15 | 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: Oregon.
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.
2010 starting tiers
Cascade from 2009: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- Oregon1
- Texas2
- Alabama3
- TCU4
- Cincinnati5
- Florida6
- USC7
- Ohio State8
- Georgia Tech9
- Boise State10
- Virginia Tech11
- Iowa12
- BYU13
- Wisconsin14
- Penn State15
- Clemson16
- West Virginia17
- California18
- LSU19
- Georgia20
- Utah21
- Oregon State22
- Boston College23
- Oklahoma24
- Stanford1
- Miami (FL)2
- Arizona3
- Oklahoma State4
- Nebraska5
- Pittsburgh6
- Notre Dame7
- Texas Tech8
- East Carolina9
- Ole Miss10
- Missouri11
- UCLA12
- Auburn13
- Florida State14
- Minnesota15
- Southern Miss16
- Michigan State17
- Purdue18
- Arkansas19
- Texas A&M20
- Colorado21
- Michigan22
- Arizona State23
- Virginia24
- Central Michigan1
- Houston2
- North Carolina3
- Tennessee4
- Kentucky5
- Northwestern6
- South Carolina7
- Navy8
- South Florida9
- Nevada10
- UCF11
- Bowling Green12
- Air Force13
- Rutgers14
- Northern Illinois15
- Fresno State16
- Kansas State17
- Wyoming18
- Tulsa19
- Wake Forest20
- NC State21
- Toledo22
- Hawaii23
- Louisville24
- New Mexico25
- Vanderbilt26
- Washington1
- UConn2
- Idaho3
- Ohio4
- SMU5
- Middle Tennessee6
- Iowa State7
- Troy8
- UAB9
- Marshall10
- UTEP11
- Illinois12
- Kansas13
- Buffalo14
- Western Michigan15
- Syracuse16
- San Diego State17
- Louisiana Tech18
- Kent State19
- Colorado State20
- Maryland21
- Rice22
- Akron23
- Miami (OH)24
- San Jose State25
- Washington State26
- Temple1
- UNLV2
- Mississippi State3
- Baylor4
- Duke5
- Army6
- Louisiana-Lafayette7
- Indiana8
- Louisiana-Monroe9
- Utah State10
- Florida Atlantic11
- New Mexico State12
- Arkansas State13
- North Texas14
- Florida International15
- Tulane16
- Memphis17
- Ball State18
- Eastern Michigan19
- Western Kentucky20