2015 season
128 teams across 5 tiers
- National champion
- Michigan Statefrom Premier
- Biggest riser (2015 tiers)
- Iowa▲ 1 tier
- Biggest faller
- Nebraska▼ 1 tier
Biggest movers
Teams with the largest tier change after promotions and relegations.
- App StateTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Bowling GreenTier 4▲ 1Tier 3
- FloridaTier 2▲ 1Premier
- HoustonTier 3▲ 1Tier 2
- IllinoisTier 5▲ 1Tier 4
- Ball StateTier 4▼ 1Tier 5
- Fresno StateTier 3▼ 1Tier 4
- Georgia TechTier 2▼ 1Tier 3
- Kansas StatePremier▼ 1Tier 2
- MarylandTier 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 | Clemson | 13 | 0 | 41 | 500 | 263 | +237 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Michigan State | 12 | 1 | 41 | 417 | 266 | +151 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Stanford | 11 | 2 | 40 | 484 | 300 | +184 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Alabama | 12 | 1 | 38 | 443 | 187 | +256 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Oklahoma | 11 | 1 | 37 | 549 | 249 | +300 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ohio State | 11 | 1 | 32 | 420 | 168 | +252 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Notre Dame | 10 | 2 | 32 | 417 | 269 | +148 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Utah | 9 | 3 | 30 | 363 | 262 | +101 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | TCU | 10 | 2 | 29 | 500 | 313 | +187 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Oklahoma State | 10 | 2 | 29 | 494 | 348 | +146 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | USC | 8 | 5 | 26 | 454 | 337 | +117 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Oregon | 9 | 3 | 26 | 518 | 441 | +77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Florida State | 10 | 2 | 25 | 388 | 189 | +199 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | UCLA | 8 | 4 | 25 | 390 | 301 | +89 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | LSU | 8 | 3 | 25 | 338 | 264 | +74 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Baylor | 9 | 3 | 24 | 576 | 330 | +246 | ||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Georgia | 9 | 3 | 24 | 318 | 203 | +115 | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Wisconsin | 9 | 3 | 21 | 325 | 157 | +168 | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Texas | 5 | 7 | 18 | 317 | 364 | -47 | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Boise State | 8 | 4 | 17 | 453 | 256 | +197 | ||||||||||||||||
| Relegation Zone | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Nebraska | 5 | 7 | 14 | 390 | 333 | +57 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | Arizona State | 6 | 6 | 14 | 408 | 392 | +16 | Survived | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Kansas State | 6 | 6 | 12 | 366 | 364 | +2 | Relegated | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | South Carolina | 3 | 9 | 7 | 263 | 330 | -67 | 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: Michigan 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.
Relegation playoffs
Bottom 4 of each upper tier play a survival bracket. The Survival Final winner stays up; the other three drop down.
2016 starting tiers
Cascade from 2015: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.
- Clemson1
- Michigan State2
- Stanford3
- Alabama4
- Oklahoma5
- Iowa6
- Ohio State7
- Notre Dame8
- Florida9
- Utah10
- TCU11
- Oklahoma State12
- USC13
- Oregon14
- Florida State15
- UCLA16
- Texas A&M17
- LSU18
- Baylor19
- Georgia20
- Wisconsin21
- Texas22
- Boise State23
- Arizona State24
- BYU1
- Michigan2
- Northwestern3
- North Carolina4
- Ole Miss5
- Houston6
- Miami (FL)7
- Pittsburgh8
- Cincinnati9
- West Virginia10
- Penn State11
- Virginia Tech12
- Louisville13
- Nebraska14
- Arizona15
- Auburn16
- Missouri17
- Marshall18
- Northern Illinois19
- Kansas State20
- East Carolina21
- Nevada22
- South Carolina23
- Rutgers24
- Washington State1
- Temple2
- San Diego State3
- Tennessee4
- Bowling Green5
- Arkansas6
- California7
- Navy8
- Air Force9
- Mississippi State10
- Texas Tech11
- Toledo12
- Washington13
- Utah State14
- Duke15
- UConn16
- Louisiana Tech17
- NC State18
- Virginia19
- San Jose State20
- Vanderbilt21
- Georgia Tech22
- Iowa State23
- Maryland24
- Boston College25
- UCF26
- Western Kentucky1
- South Florida2
- Memphis3
- New Mexico4
- Ohio5
- Southern Miss6
- Colorado State7
- App State8
- Western Michigan9
- Central Michigan10
- Indiana11
- Kentucky12
- Illinois13
- Tulsa14
- Minnesota15
- Arkansas State16
- Syracuse17
- UTEP18
- UNLV19
- Rice20
- Purdue21
- Wyoming22
- Fresno State23
- Oregon State24
- Kent State25
- Middle Tennessee1
- Georgia Southern2
- Florida International3
- Akron4
- Buffalo5
- Colorado6
- South Alabama7
- UTSA8
- Old Dominion9
- Tulane10
- Georgia State11
- Wake Forest12
- Troy13
- Louisiana-Lafayette14
- Florida Atlantic15
- Massachusetts16
- Idaho17
- New Mexico State18
- Eastern Michigan19
- Texas State20
- Ball State21
- Miami (OH)22
- Hawaii23
- Louisiana-Monroe24
- Charlotte25
- SMU26
- Army27
- North Texas28
- Kansas29