2018 season

130 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
Virginia Tech▼ 1 tier

Regular season champions

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

Premier42 pts
Alabama
13-0 · +430 diff
Tier 244 pts
Notre Dame
12-0 · +198 diff
Tier 329 pts
Fresno State
11-2 · +276 diff
Tier 424 pts
Kentucky
9-3 · +124 diff
Tier 518 pts
Buffalo
10-3 · +131 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
1Alabama13042623193+430
2Ohio State12142565334+231
3Oklahoma12142643421+222
4Clemson13037590178+412
5Michigan10236442211+231
6Washington10335346201+145
7Texas9433407341+66
8UCF12031530255+275
9LSU9330381251+130
10Northwestern8528308305+3
11Georgia11227509241+268
12Stanford8427355285+70
13West Virginia8326465292+173
14Penn State9324415240+175
15Iowa8421378209+169
16Miami (FL)7521371218+153
17Houston8419557413+144
18Wisconsin7519351291+60
19Michigan State7518237216+21
20TCU6615296293+3
21USC5714313324-11Survived
22Virginia Tech6613357368-11Relegated
23UCLA3911295409-114Relegated
24Nebraska4810360375-15Relegated
Tier 224 teams
TeamStatus
1Notre Dame12044405207+198Promoted
2Utah9433373241+132Promoted
3Washington State10228460277+183
4Boise State10325460287+173
5Arizona State7525369301+68Promoted (playoff)
6Mississippi State8423349144+205
7Oregon8422446324+122
8Georgia Tech7521427347+80
9Texas A&M8420416316+100
10Auburn7519339235+104
11Pittsburgh7618346375-29
12Northern Illinois8517269280-11
13Oklahoma State6616461389+72
14South Florida7516350378-28
15Texas Tech5715448373+75
16Toledo7514493362+131
17San Diego State7514268261+7
18Baylor6614339374-35
19Western Michigan7513398400-2
20Florida State5713263378-115
21BYU6611305260+45Relegated
22Kansas State5710270305-35Relegated
23Ole Miss579407434-27Relegated
24Louisville2102237529-292Survived
Tier 326 teams
TeamStatus
1Fresno State11229454178+276Promoted
2Syracuse9326489333+156Promoted
3Cincinnati10224419193+226Promoted (playoff)
4Temple8424427296+131
5Florida9323414245+169
6NC State9322427272+155
7California7522273255+18
8Boston College7520384308+76
9Missouri8419443293+150
10Memphis8517567410+157
11Colorado5716325327-2
12Minnesota6615342335+7
13South Carolina7514391326+65
14Maryland5713342344-2
15Nevada7512388337+51
16Arizona5712376391-15
17Wyoming668248264-16
18Tennessee578273335-62
19Louisiana Tech757290285+5
20Navy3106325436-111
21Tulsa394289355-66
22North Carolina294301380-79
23East Carolina394273448-175Survived
24Arkansas2103260417-157Relegated
25Central Michigan1110180328-148Relegated
26UConn1110266605-339Relegated
Tier 426 teams
TeamStatus
1Kentucky9324319195+124Promoted
2Iowa State8423322270+52Promoted
3Duke7523326329-3Promoted (playoff)
4Purdue6622383327+56
5Utah State10218566276+290
6Virginia7517342261+81
7Vanderbilt6615332301+31
8UAB10314381225+156
9Army10212356216+140
10Wake Forest6612390399-9
11Ohio8411494320+174
12Miami (OH)6611337306+31
13Arkansas State8410381317+64
14Middle Tennessee8510379329+50
15Southern Miss659288218+70
16Marshall849329264+65
17Air Force579362309+53
18Indiana578317359-42
19UNLV488345447-102
20Illinois485312473-161
21Bowling Green394292480-188
22New Mexico393319434-115
23Colorado State393274441-167Relegated
24Oregon State2103313548-235Relegated
25Western Kentucky392253334-81Survived
26Rice2111246468-222Relegated
Tier 530 teams
TeamStatus
1Buffalo10318452321+131Promoted
2Hawaii8517417460-43Promoted
3Tulane6616308334-26
4North Texas9312437262+175Promoted (playoff)
5Troy9312357254+103
6Eastern Michigan7512330264+66
7SMU5712365423-58
8App State10210440188+252
9Florida International8410415296+119
10Georgia Southern939373259+114
11Akron489227326-99
12Old Dominion488370431-61
13Ball State488290389-99
14Louisiana-Lafayette767423438-15
15Florida Atlantic576373380-7
16Charlotte576260319-59
17Louisiana-Monroe666319381-62
18Kansas396286360-74
19Liberty665399442-43
20Coastal Carolina575320398-78
21Massachusetts485394515-121
22UTSA394170374-204
23Texas State392237331-94
24Kent State2102287440-153
25South Alabama392290465-175
26New Mexico State392303496-193
27Georgia State2101286449-163
28Rutgers1111162377-215
29UTEP111-1212393-181
30San Jose State111-1255439-184

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

Final

Duke19
Purdue16
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: USC

Survival Final· winner stays up

USC18
Virginia Tech0
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: Louisville

Survival Final· winner stays up

Louisville30
Kansas State23
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: East Carolina

Survival Final· winner stays up

East Carolina33
Arkansas30
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Western Kentucky

Survival Final· winner stays up

Colorado State11
Western Kentucky14

2019 starting tiers

Cascade from 2018: 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. Alabama2
  3. Ohio State3
  4. Oklahoma4
  5. Clemson5
  6. Michigan6
  7. Washington7
  8. Utah8
  9. Texas9
  10. UCF10
  11. LSU11
  12. Northwestern12
  13. Georgia13
  14. Stanford14
  15. West Virginia15
  16. Arizona State16
  17. Penn State17
  18. Iowa18
  19. Miami (FL)19
  20. Houston20
  21. Wisconsin21
  22. Michigan State22
  23. TCU23
  24. USC24
Tier 224
  1. Fresno State1
  2. Washington State2
  3. Syracuse3
  4. Boise State4
  5. Cincinnati5
  6. Mississippi State6
  7. Oregon7
  8. Georgia Tech8
  9. Texas A&M9
  10. Auburn10
  11. Pittsburgh11
  12. Northern Illinois12
  13. Oklahoma State13
  14. South Florida14
  15. Texas Tech15
  16. Toledo16
  17. San Diego State17
  18. Baylor18
  19. Western Michigan19
  20. Virginia Tech20
  21. Florida State21
  22. UCLA22
  23. Nebraska23
  24. Louisville24
Tier 326
  1. Temple1
  2. Kentucky2
  3. Florida3
  4. Iowa State4
  5. Duke5
  6. NC State6
  7. California7
  8. Boston College8
  9. Missouri9
  10. Memphis10
  11. Colorado11
  12. Minnesota12
  13. South Carolina13
  14. Maryland14
  15. Nevada15
  16. Arizona16
  17. BYU17
  18. Kansas State18
  19. Ole Miss19
  20. Wyoming20
  21. Tennessee21
  22. Louisiana Tech22
  23. Navy23
  24. Tulsa24
  25. North Carolina25
  26. East Carolina26
Tier 426
  1. Purdue1
  2. Utah State2
  3. Buffalo3
  4. Virginia4
  5. Hawaii5
  6. Vanderbilt6
  7. UAB7
  8. North Texas8
  9. Army9
  10. Wake Forest10
  11. Ohio11
  12. Miami (OH)12
  13. Arkansas State13
  14. Middle Tennessee14
  15. Southern Miss15
  16. Marshall16
  17. Air Force17
  18. Indiana18
  19. UNLV19
  20. Illinois20
  21. Bowling Green21
  22. New Mexico22
  23. Arkansas23
  24. Western Kentucky24
  25. Central Michigan25
  26. UConn26
Tier 530
  1. Tulane1
  2. Troy2
  3. Eastern Michigan3
  4. SMU4
  5. App State5
  6. Florida International6
  7. Georgia Southern7
  8. Akron8
  9. Old Dominion9
  10. Ball State10
  11. Louisiana-Lafayette11
  12. Florida Atlantic12
  13. Charlotte13
  14. Louisiana-Monroe14
  15. Kansas15
  16. Liberty16
  17. Coastal Carolina17
  18. Massachusetts18
  19. UTSA19
  20. Colorado State20
  21. Oregon State21
  22. Texas State22
  23. Kent State23
  24. South Alabama24
  25. New Mexico State25
  26. Georgia State26
  27. Rutgers27
  28. Rice28
  29. UTEP29
  30. San Jose State30