2011 season
120 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Alabamafrom Premier
- Biggest riser (2011 tiers)
- South Carolina▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- Florida▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- BaylorTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- Florida InternationalTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- HoustonTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- Iowa StateTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- Kansas StateTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- ArizonaTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- Boston CollegePremier▼ 1Tier 2
- Bowling GreenTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- ColoradoTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- FloridaPremier▼ 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 | LSU | 13 | 0 | 46 | 500 | 137 | +363 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | USC | 10 | 2 | 40 | 429 | 283 | +146 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Oregon | 11 | 2 | 39 | 600 | 307 | +293 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Stanford | 11 | 1 | 38 | 523 | 244 | +279 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 11 | 1 | 36 | 592 | 310 | +282 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Alabama | 11 | 1 | 33 | 432 | 106 | +326 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Clemson | 10 | 3 | 33 | 437 | 340 | +97 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Wisconsin | 11 | 2 | 32 | 580 | 221 | +359 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Boise State | 11 | 1 | 31 | 519 | 219 | +300 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Virginia Tech | 11 | 2 | 30 | 371 | 224 | +147 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Georgia | 10 | 3 | 29 | 418 | 255 | +163 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Oklahoma | 9 | 3 | 27 | 483 | 273 | +210 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | TCU | 10 | 2 | 24 | 500 | 255 | +245 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | West Virginia | 9 | 3 | 24 | 419 | 315 | +104 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Utah | 7 | 5 | 23 | 295 | 236 | +59 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | California | 7 | 5 | 22 | 358 | 293 | +65 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Penn State | 9 | 3 | 22 | 237 | 188 | +49 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | BYU | 9 | 3 | 20 | 367 | 244 | +123 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Iowa | 7 | 5 | 17 | 344 | 279 | +65 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Ohio State | 6 | 6 | 17 | 301 | 249 | +52 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Auburn | 7 | 5 | 16 | 291 | 352 | -61 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Florida | 6 | 6 | 12 | 307 | 247 | +60 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Boston College | 4 | 8 | 10 | 218 | 282 | -64 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | Oregon State | 3 | 9 | 5 | 262 | 370 | -108 | 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: Alabama.
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.
2012 starting tiers
Cascade from 2011: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- LSU1
- USC2
- Oregon3
- Stanford4
- Oklahoma State5
- Alabama6
- South Carolina7
- Clemson8
- Wisconsin9
- Boise State10
- Nebraska11
- Michigan State12
- Virginia Tech13
- Georgia14
- Oklahoma15
- TCU16
- West Virginia17
- Utah18
- California19
- Penn State20
- BYU21
- Iowa22
- Ohio State23
- Auburn24
- Michigan1
- Arkansas2
- Kansas State3
- Southern Miss4
- Notre Dame5
- Houston6
- Cincinnati7
- Arizona State8
- Texas9
- Florida State10
- UCLA11
- Rutgers12
- Georgia Tech13
- Virginia14
- Missouri15
- Miami (FL)16
- NC State17
- Texas A&M18
- Nevada19
- Pittsburgh20
- Florida21
- Boston College22
- East Carolina23
- Oregon State24
- Baylor1
- Washington2
- Louisville3
- Iowa State4
- North Carolina5
- Louisiana Tech6
- Northern Illinois7
- Northwestern8
- Tulsa9
- Purdue10
- Wyoming11
- Texas Tech12
- Toledo13
- Vanderbilt14
- Syracuse15
- Colorado16
- UCF17
- South Florida18
- Hawaii19
- UConn20
- Tennessee21
- Air Force22
- Arizona23
- Kentucky24
- Navy25
- Fresno State26
- Wake Forest1
- Marshall2
- Utah State3
- Ohio4
- Florida International5
- SMU6
- San Diego State7
- Western Michigan8
- Illinois9
- San Jose State10
- Mississippi State11
- Temple12
- UTEP13
- UAB14
- Kent State15
- Rice16
- Bowling Green17
- Minnesota18
- Miami (OH)19
- Troy20
- Central Michigan21
- Maryland22
- Colorado State23
- Ole Miss24
- Kansas25
- Indiana26
- Arkansas State1
- Louisiana-Lafayette2
- New Mexico State3
- Washington State4
- Ball State5
- North Texas6
- Western Kentucky7
- Eastern Michigan8
- Louisiana-Monroe9
- Army10
- Duke11
- Buffalo12
- Idaho13
- Middle Tennessee14
- Tulane15
- Florida Atlantic16
- UNLV17
- Memphis18
- Akron19
- New Mexico20