2019 season

130 teams across 5 tiers

National champion
LSUfrom Premier
Biggest riser (2019 tiers)
Utah▲ 1 tier
Biggest faller
West Virginia▼ 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.

Premier46 pts
Ohio State
13-0 · +470 diff
Tier 234 pts
Utah
11-2 · +270 diff
Tier 329 pts
Memphis
12-1 · +210 diff
Tier 428 pts
SMU
10-2 · +134 diff
Tier 517 pts
Hawaii
9-5 · +26 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 State13046
2LSU13045
3Oklahoma12143
4Clemson13039
5Georgia11237
6Oregon11236
7Wisconsin10333
8Notre Dame10232
9Penn State10231
10USC8428
11Alabama10227
12Auburn9327
13Michigan9326
14Boise State12124
15Iowa9323
16Texas7521
17Washington7518
18Michigan State6618
19Texas A&M7515
20Stanford4814
Relegation Zone
21West Virginia5714Relegated
22Washington State6613Survived
23TCU5712Relegated
24Northwestern394Relegated

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: LSU.

Round 1
simulated
Notre Dame25
Utah28
simulated
Georgia32
California15
simulated
Wisconsin35
Baylor18
simulated
Oregon27
Memphis24
Quarterfinal
simulated
Ohio State35
Utah32
simulated
Clemson26
Georgia21
simulated
LSU27
Wisconsin15
simulated
Oklahoma37
Oregon31
Semifinal
simulated
Ohio State27
Clemson36
simulated
LSU44
Oklahoma37
Championship
simulated
Clemson33
LSU43

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
Cincinnati24
UCF32
simulated
Florida22
Kansas State11
Final
simulated
UCF23
Florida37
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Semifinal
simulated
Temple31
BYU8
simulated
North Carolina8
Tennessee19
Final
simulated
Temple28
Tennessee25
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Semifinal
simulated
Virginia31
Colorado14
simulated
Navy40
Wake Forest30
Final
simulated
Virginia24
Navy47
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4
Semifinal
simulated
Florida Atlantic36
Miami (OH)20
simulated
Oregon State33
Central Michigan20
Final
simulated
Florida Atlantic43
Oregon State31

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: Washington State
Semifinal
simulated
West Virginia55
Northwestern25
simulated
Washington State39
TCU34
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
West Virginia22
Washington State43
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: NC State
Semifinal
simulated
NC State40
East Carolina35
simulated
Georgia Tech27
Houston34
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
NC State35
Houston33
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: Fresno State
Semifinal
simulated
Vanderbilt19
Fresno State34
simulated
Ole Miss50
Maryland33
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Fresno State35
Ole Miss19
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Arkansas
Semifinal
simulated
Arkansas31
Old Dominion19
simulated
Rutgers35
New Mexico19
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Arkansas53
Rutgers28

2020 starting tiers

Cascade from 2019: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.

Premier24
  1. Ohio State1
  2. LSU2
  3. Oklahoma3
  4. Clemson4
  5. Georgia5
  6. Oregon6
  7. Utah7
  8. Wisconsin8
  9. Baylor9
  10. Notre Dame10
  11. Penn State11
  12. Florida12
  13. USC13
  14. Alabama14
  15. Auburn15
  16. Michigan16
  17. Boise State17
  18. Iowa18
  19. Texas19
  20. Washington20
  21. Michigan State21
  22. Texas A&M22
  23. Stanford23
  24. Washington State24
Tier 224
  1. Cincinnati1
  2. Memphis2
  3. Kansas State3
  4. UCF4
  5. Oklahoma State5
  6. California6
  7. Arizona State7
  8. Iowa State8
  9. Temple9
  10. Virginia Tech10
  11. Pittsburgh11
  12. San Diego State12
  13. Louisville13
  14. UCLA14
  15. Miami (FL)15
  16. Missouri16
  17. Florida State17
  18. West Virginia18
  19. TCU19
  20. Mississippi State20
  21. South Carolina21
  22. Northern Illinois22
  23. NC State23
  24. Northwestern24
Tier 326
  1. SMU1
  2. Minnesota2
  3. Navy3
  4. North Carolina4
  5. Tennessee5
  6. BYU6
  7. Air Force7
  8. Boston College8
  9. Utah State9
  10. Nebraska10
  11. Duke11
  12. Purdue12
  13. Nevada13
  14. Marshall14
  15. Tulsa15
  16. Louisiana Tech16
  17. Texas Tech17
  18. Toledo18
  19. Syracuse19
  20. Arizona20
  21. Western Michigan21
  22. South Florida22
  23. Georgia Tech23
  24. Houston24
  25. Fresno State25
  26. East Carolina26
Tier 425
  1. Virginia1
  2. Wake Forest2
  3. Colorado3
  4. Indiana4
  5. Kentucky5
  6. Hawaii6
  7. Illinois7
  8. App State8
  9. Florida Atlantic9
  10. Wyoming10
  11. Buffalo11
  12. UAB12
  13. Tulane13
  14. Western Kentucky14
  15. Vanderbilt15
  16. Ohio16
  17. Southern Miss17
  18. Arkansas State18
  19. Colorado State19
  20. UNLV20
  21. Ole Miss21
  22. Middle Tennessee22
  23. Maryland23
  24. Bowling Green24
  25. Arkansas25
Tier 531
  1. Oregon State1
  2. Central Michigan2
  3. Miami (OH)3
  4. Louisiana-Lafayette4
  5. Charlotte5
  6. Eastern Michigan6
  7. Ball State7
  8. Florida International8
  9. Georgia State9
  10. San Jose State10
  11. Liberty11
  12. Georgia Southern12
  13. Kent State13
  14. Kansas14
  15. Coastal Carolina15
  16. Troy16
  17. North Texas17
  18. Louisiana-Monroe18
  19. Rice19
  20. UTSA20
  21. Army21
  22. South Alabama22
  23. Texas State23
  24. Rutgers24
  25. New Mexico25
  26. New Mexico State26
  27. UConn27
  28. Old Dominion28
  29. UTEP29
  30. Akron30
  31. Massachusetts31