2012 season

124 teams across 5 tiers · ingest from CFBD regular season

← all seasons
National champion
Ohio Statefrom Premier
Biggest riser (1999 tiers)
Notre Dame▲ 1 tier
Biggest faller
Georgia Tech▼ 1 tier

Regular season champions

Tier winners — the top finisher in each tier on points, before any promotion playoff or main-playoff games.

Premier43 pts
Ohio State
12-0 · +172 diff
Tier 251 pts
Notre Dame
12-0 · +197 diff
Tier 323 pts
Northwestern
9-3 · +105 diff
Tier 423 pts
North Carolina
8-4 · +179 diff
Tier 520 pts
Vanderbilt
8-4 · +133 diff

Tier standings

Final regular-season standings within each tier. Promoted rows tinted green, relegated rows tinted red, survival winners tinted amber.

Premier24 teams
TeamStatus
1Ohio State12043446274+172
2Alabama12138500139+361
3Stanford11237370227+143
4Oklahoma10234483290+193
5Nebraska10334456341+115
6Oregon11132610264+346
7Georgia11230484244+240
8Boise State10228365179+186
9LSU10227363203+160
10Michigan8424360225+135
11USC7524410295+115
12Texas8422433353+80
13Miami (FL)7521377366+11
14Oklahoma State7520536353+183
15TCU7520352277+75
16Wisconsin8517400248+152
17Michigan State6617243196+47
18West Virginia7517499457+42
19Texas Tech7516453382+71
20BYU7515350176+174
21Virginia Tech6615313287+26Survived
22Georgia Tech6712449389+60Relegated
23Missouri5712309341-32Relegated
24Auburn392224340-116Relegated
Tier 224 teams
TeamStatus
1Notre Dame12051321124+197Promoted
2Kansas State11140488253+235Promoted
3UCLA9432456337+119
4Florida State11231519196+323Promoted (playoff)
5Florida11131321155+166
6Oregon State9330396237+159
7South Carolina10229377209+168
8Texas A&M10228537270+267
9Clemson10228508299+209
10Tulsa10326455314+141
11Louisville10226372286+86
12Penn State8424349229+120
13Cincinnati9322372206+166
14UCF9420458292+166
15Utah5714320301+19
16Nevada7513444390+54
17Pittsburgh6612329236+93
18Arkansas4811282365-83
19Iowa4810232275-43
20Houston579389432-43
21California396276397-121Survived
22Boston College2102238356-118Relegated
23Hawaii392254428-174Relegated
24Southern Miss0120236454-218Relegated
Tier 326 teams
TeamStatus
1Northwestern9323378273+105Promoted
2Arizona7523447411+36Promoted
3Washington75222862860
4Fresno State9321483267+216
5Rutgers9321269171+98
6Syracuse7521352308+44Promoted (playoff)
7Northern Illinois12119530247+283
8Louisiana Tech9319618462+156
9Arizona State7519437288+149
10Baylor7519529458+71
11Toledo9318395328+67
12East Carolina8417375368+7
13NC State7516341295+46
14Navy8413297272+25
15Air Force6613342344-2
16UConn5713213238-25
17Purdue6612359348+11
18Rice6612381376+5
19Marshall5712491517-26
20Virginia4812273347-74
21Central Michigan669351400-49
22Tennessee578434428+6
23Western Michigan487352356-4Survived
24South Florida397247329-82Relegated
25Illinois2103200385-185Relegated
26Colorado111-1214552-338Relegated
Tier 426 teams
TeamStatus
1North Carolina8423487308+179Promoted
2San Diego State9322421294+127Promoted
3San Jose State10220423257+166
4Mississippi State8418363269+94
5Iowa State6618302280+22
6SMU6615354324+30Promoted (playoff)
7Ole Miss6614371342+29
8Ohio8413367308+59
9Minnesota6613256287-31
10Bowling Green8411278189+89
11Arkansas State9310437305+132
12Wake Forest5710222382-160
13Troy579367366+1
14Temple477272343-71
15Maryland487241326-85
16UAB397339450-111
17Buffalo486255342-87
18UTEP396254357-103
19Colorado State486254363-109
20Miami (OH)484280419-139
21Washington State394245404-159
22Wyoming483322401-79
23Florida International393300380-80Survived
24Kentucky2101215372-157Relegated
25Kansas1110219433-214Relegated
26Idaho111-2190509-319Relegated
Tier 524 teams
TeamStatus
1Vanderbilt8420352219+133Promoted
2Ball State9319420378+42Promoted
3Kent State11218450326+124Promoted (playoff)
4Utah State10217413185+228
5Western Kentucky7513345307+38
6Louisiana-Monroe8412426334+92
7Middle Tennessee8411319336-17
8Duke6610376420-44
9Louisiana-Lafayette849418331+87
10Indiana488369423-54
11Texas State487343402-59
12Memphis487293363-70
13New Mexico496335393-58
14UTSA845374345+29
15Army2104291424-133
16Tulane2104257461-204
17North Texas483251334-83
18Florida Atlantic393246370-124
19UNLV2111286424-138
20South Alabama2111240383-143
21Eastern Michigan2101256451-195
22Massachusetts1111152482-330
23Akron1110313428-115
24New Mexico State1110224473-249

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: Ohio State.

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.

Tier 2→ up to Tier 1
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4

Relegation playoffs

Bottom 4 of each upper tier play a survival bracket. The Survival Final winner stays up; the other three drop down.

Premierbottom 4 · survivor: Virginia Tech

Survival Final· winner stays up

Virginia Tech14
Georgia Tech3
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: California

Survival Final· winner stays up

California19
Hawaii11
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: Western Michigan

Survival Final· winner stays up

Western Michigan26
South Florida22
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Florida International

Survival Final· winner stays up

Florida International23
Kentucky0

2013 starting tiers

Cascade from 2012: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.

Premier24
  1. Notre Dame1
  2. Ohio State2
  3. Kansas State3
  4. Alabama4
  5. Stanford5
  6. Oklahoma6
  7. Nebraska7
  8. Oregon8
  9. Florida State9
  10. Georgia10
  11. Boise State11
  12. LSU12
  13. Michigan13
  14. USC14
  15. Texas15
  16. Miami (FL)16
  17. Oklahoma State17
  18. TCU18
  19. Wisconsin19
  20. Michigan State20
  21. West Virginia21
  22. Texas Tech22
  23. BYU23
  24. Virginia Tech24
Tier 224
  1. UCLA1
  2. Florida2
  3. Oregon State3
  4. South Carolina4
  5. Texas A&M5
  6. Clemson6
  7. Tulsa7
  8. Louisville8
  9. Penn State9
  10. Northwestern10
  11. Arizona11
  12. Cincinnati12
  13. Syracuse13
  14. UCF14
  15. Utah15
  16. Nevada16
  17. Pittsburgh17
  18. Georgia Tech18
  19. Missouri19
  20. Arkansas20
  21. Iowa21
  22. Houston22
  23. California23
  24. Auburn24
Tier 326
  1. North Carolina1
  2. San Diego State2
  3. Washington3
  4. Fresno State4
  5. Rutgers5
  6. Northern Illinois6
  7. Louisiana Tech7
  8. Arizona State8
  9. Baylor9
  10. Toledo10
  11. East Carolina11
  12. NC State12
  13. SMU13
  14. Navy14
  15. Air Force15
  16. UConn16
  17. Purdue17
  18. Rice18
  19. Marshall19
  20. Virginia20
  21. Central Michigan21
  22. Tennessee22
  23. Western Michigan23
  24. Boston College24
  25. Hawaii25
  26. Southern Miss26
Tier 426
  1. San Jose State1
  2. Vanderbilt2
  3. Ball State3
  4. Kent State4
  5. Mississippi State5
  6. Iowa State6
  7. Ole Miss7
  8. Ohio8
  9. Minnesota9
  10. Bowling Green10
  11. Arkansas State11
  12. Wake Forest12
  13. Troy13
  14. Temple14
  15. South Florida15
  16. Maryland16
  17. UAB17
  18. Buffalo18
  19. UTEP19
  20. Colorado State20
  21. Miami (OH)21
  22. Washington State22
  23. Wyoming23
  24. Florida International24
  25. Illinois25
  26. Colorado26
Tier 524
  1. Utah State1
  2. Western Kentucky2
  3. Louisiana-Monroe3
  4. Middle Tennessee4
  5. Duke5
  6. Louisiana-Lafayette6
  7. Indiana7
  8. Texas State8
  9. Memphis9
  10. New Mexico10
  11. UTSA11
  12. Army12
  13. Tulane13
  14. North Texas14
  15. Florida Atlantic15
  16. UNLV16
  17. South Alabama17
  18. Kentucky18
  19. Eastern Michigan19
  20. Massachusetts20
  21. Akron21
  22. Kansas22
  23. New Mexico State23
  24. Idaho24