2012 season

124 teams across 5 tiers

National champion
Oregonfrom Premier
Biggest riser (2012 tiers)
Notre Dame▲ 1 tier
Biggest faller
BYU▼ 1 tier

Biggest movers

Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.

▲ Risers
▼ Fallers

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 249 pts
Notre Dame
12-0 · +197 diff
Tier 329 pts
Louisville
10-2 · +86 diff
Tier 422 pts
San Diego State
9-3 · +127 diff
Tier 518 pts
Ball State
9-3 · +42 diff

Tier standings

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

Premier24 teams
TeamⓘStatus
Playoff Zone
1Ohio State12043
2Stanford11237
3Alabama12136
4Nebraska10334
5South Carolina10233
6Oregon11132
7Oklahoma10232
8Georgia11230
9Clemson10228
10Boise State10228
11LSU10227
12USC7526
13Penn State8425
14TCU7520
15Oklahoma State7519
16Wisconsin8518
17Michigan State6617
18West Virginia7516
19Virginia Tech6615
20Utah5714
Relegation Zone
21BYU7512Relegated
22Iowa4810Survived
23California395Relegated
24Auburn392Relegated

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.

Round 1
simulated
Georgia18
Notre Dame21
simulated
South Carolina24
Northwestern15
simulated
Oklahoma33
Kansas State26
simulated
Oregon35
Louisville26
Quarterfinal
simulated
Ohio State13
Notre Dame33
simulated
Nebraska32
South Carolina30
simulated
Stanford9
Oklahoma25
simulated
Alabama22
Oregon25
Semifinal
simulated
Notre Dame27
Nebraska20
simulated
Oklahoma27
Oregon38
Championship
simulated
Notre Dame22
Oregon34

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 Premier
Semifinal
simulated
Florida17
Florida State42
simulated
Oregon State9
UCLA41
Final
simulated
Florida State27
UCLA32
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Semifinal
simulated
North Carolina29
Tulsa31
simulated
Arizona30
Washington22
Final
simulated
Tulsa27
Arizona35
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Semifinal
simulated
Mississippi State32
SMU31
simulated
Utah State35
Kent State17
Final
simulated
Mississippi State26
Utah State38
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4
Semifinal
simulated
Louisiana-Monroe15
Middle Tennessee23
simulated
Duke24
Arkansas State23
Final
simulated
Middle Tennessee23
Duke24

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: Iowa
Semifinal
simulated
BYU16
Auburn17
simulated
Iowa28
California21
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Auburn12
Iowa17
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: Houston
Semifinal
simulated
Arkansas33
Southern Miss38
simulated
Houston28
Boston College19
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Southern Miss19
Houston32
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: Wyoming
Semifinal
simulated
Wyoming22
Colorado20
simulated
Kentucky45
Hawaii23
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Wyoming43
Kentucky40
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Florida International
Semifinal
simulated
Miami (OH)35
Kansas18
simulated
Florida International21
Illinois18
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Miami (OH)15
Florida International19

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. Stanford4
  5. Alabama5
  6. Nebraska6
  7. South Carolina7
  8. Oregon8
  9. Oklahoma9
  10. UCLA10
  11. Georgia11
  12. Clemson12
  13. Boise State13
  14. LSU14
  15. USC15
  16. Penn State16
  17. TCU17
  18. Oklahoma State18
  19. Wisconsin19
  20. Michigan State20
  21. West Virginia21
  22. Virginia Tech22
  23. Utah23
  24. Iowa24
Tier 224
  1. Florida1
  2. Oregon State2
  3. Florida State3
  4. Louisville4
  5. Texas A&M5
  6. Northwestern6
  7. Michigan7
  8. Arizona8
  9. Cincinnati9
  10. Texas10
  11. Rutgers11
  12. Miami (FL)12
  13. Arizona State13
  14. NC State14
  15. East Carolina15
  16. Georgia Tech16
  17. Nevada17
  18. Missouri18
  19. Virginia19
  20. BYU20
  21. Pittsburgh21
  22. Houston22
  23. California23
  24. Auburn24
Tier 326
  1. North Carolina1
  2. Washington2
  3. Tulsa3
  4. San Diego State4
  5. Fresno State5
  6. UCF6
  7. Vanderbilt7
  8. San Jose State8
  9. Syracuse9
  10. Iowa State10
  11. Northern Illinois11
  12. Utah State12
  13. Louisiana Tech13
  14. Baylor14
  15. Texas Tech15
  16. Toledo16
  17. Navy17
  18. Air Force18
  19. Purdue19
  20. UConn20
  21. Arkansas21
  22. Tennessee22
  23. South Florida23
  24. Wyoming24
  25. Boston College25
  26. Southern Miss26
Tier 426
  1. Mississippi State1
  2. Ball State2
  3. Kent State3
  4. SMU4
  5. Ole Miss5
  6. Western Kentucky6
  7. Ohio7
  8. Rice8
  9. Duke9
  10. Wake Forest10
  11. Marshall11
  12. Minnesota12
  13. Central Michigan13
  14. Bowling Green14
  15. Troy15
  16. Indiana16
  17. Maryland17
  18. Temple18
  19. Western Michigan19
  20. UTEP20
  21. UAB21
  22. Colorado State22
  23. Florida International23
  24. Kentucky24
  25. Hawaii25
  26. Colorado26
Tier 524
  1. Louisiana-Monroe1
  2. Arkansas State2
  3. Middle Tennessee3
  4. Louisiana-Lafayette4
  5. Texas State5
  6. Memphis6
  7. New Mexico7
  8. Buffalo8
  9. UTSA9
  10. Army10
  11. Miami (OH)11
  12. Washington State12
  13. Tulane13
  14. North Texas14
  15. Florida Atlantic15
  16. Illinois16
  17. UNLV17
  18. South Alabama18
  19. Massachusetts19
  20. Akron20
  21. Eastern Michigan21
  22. Kansas22
  23. New Mexico State23
  24. Idaho24