2020 season

130 teams across 5 tiers

National champion
Alabamafrom Premier
Biggest riser (2020 tiers)
Iowa State▲ 1 tier
Biggest faller
Utah▼ 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.

Premier42 pts
Alabama
11-0 · +333 diff
Tier 231 pts
Iowa State
8-3 · +121 diff
Tier 323 pts
BYU
10-1 · +312 diff
Tier 423 pts
Indiana
6-1 · +75 diff
Tier 520 pts
San Jose State
7-0 · +91 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
1Alabama11042
2Notre Dame10135
3Clemson10130
4Texas A&M8130
5Oklahoma8226
6Florida8324
7Georgia7224
8Iowa6223
9Texas6321
10USC5121
11Ohio State6020
12Oregon4219
13Auburn6418
14LSU5515
15Stanford4214
16Penn State4513
17Boise State5212
18Wisconsin3310
19Washington319
20Michigan State259
Relegation Zone
21Utah328Relegated
22Baylor275Relegated
23Michigan244Survived
24Washington State131Relegated

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: Alabama.

Round 1
simulated
Iowa20
Iowa State30
simulated
Oklahoma50
North Carolina23
simulated
Georgia18
Miami (FL)23
simulated
Florida44
BYU41
Quarterfinal
simulated
Alabama44
Iowa State19
simulated
Texas A&M42
Oklahoma25
simulated
Notre Dame13
Miami (FL)26
simulated
Clemson36
Florida29
Semifinal
simulated
Alabama32
Texas A&M18
simulated
Miami (FL)11
Clemson43
Championship
simulated
Alabama42
Clemson26

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
Cincinnati34
TCU19
simulated
Oklahoma State35
NC State10
Final
simulated
Cincinnati25
Oklahoma State19
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Semifinal
simulated
Tulsa28
Nevada6
simulated
Boston College34
SMU36
Final
simulated
Tulsa36
SMU22
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Semifinal
simulated
Tulane44
Ole Miss43
simulated
Virginia49
Kentucky20
Final
simulated
Tulane28
Virginia34
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4
Semifinal
simulated
Coastal Carolina21
Army20
simulated
Liberty41
Ball State39
Final
simulated
Coastal Carolina27
Liberty10

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: Michigan
Semifinal
simulated
Utah32
Washington State39
simulated
Baylor33
Michigan36
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Washington State28
Michigan37
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: Arizona State
Semifinal
simulated
California37
Northern Illinois38
simulated
Arizona State39
Temple7
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Northern Illinois36
Arizona State39
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: Arizona
Semifinal
simulated
Syracuse44
South Florida41
simulated
Utah State22
Arizona32
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Syracuse22
Arizona35
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Vanderbilt
Semifinal
simulated
Colorado State31
Vanderbilt34
simulated
UNLV34
Bowling Green20
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Vanderbilt52
UNLV29

2021 starting tiers

Cascade from 2020: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.

Premier24
  1. Alabama1
  2. Notre Dame2
  3. Iowa State3
  4. Clemson4
  5. Texas A&M5
  6. Miami (FL)6
  7. Oklahoma7
  8. Cincinnati8
  9. Florida9
  10. Georgia10
  11. Iowa11
  12. Texas12
  13. USC13
  14. Ohio State14
  15. Oregon15
  16. Auburn16
  17. LSU17
  18. Stanford18
  19. Penn State19
  20. Boise State20
  21. Wisconsin21
  22. Washington22
  23. Michigan State23
  24. Michigan24
Tier 224
  1. Oklahoma State1
  2. BYU2
  3. North Carolina3
  4. NC State4
  5. TCU5
  6. Northwestern6
  7. Memphis7
  8. UCF8
  9. Tulsa9
  10. Pittsburgh10
  11. Virginia Tech11
  12. Missouri12
  13. West Virginia13
  14. Kansas State14
  15. UCLA15
  16. Louisville16
  17. Mississippi State17
  18. San Diego State18
  19. Utah19
  20. South Carolina20
  21. Florida State21
  22. Baylor22
  23. Arizona State23
  24. Washington State24
Tier 326
  1. Indiana1
  2. Boston College2
  3. Colorado3
  4. SMU4
  5. Nevada5
  6. Virginia6
  7. Marshall7
  8. Georgia Tech8
  9. East Carolina9
  10. Texas Tech10
  11. Tennessee11
  12. Western Michigan12
  13. Nebraska13
  14. Navy14
  15. Toledo15
  16. Houston16
  17. Minnesota17
  18. Air Force18
  19. Fresno State19
  20. Purdue20
  21. Louisiana Tech21
  22. California22
  23. Duke23
  24. Temple24
  25. Northern Illinois25
  26. Arizona26
Tier 425
  1. San Jose State1
  2. Louisiana-Lafayette2
  3. Tulane3
  4. Coastal Carolina4
  5. Kentucky5
  6. Ole Miss6
  7. Buffalo7
  8. Wake Forest8
  9. Hawaii9
  10. Arkansas10
  11. App State11
  12. UAB12
  13. Maryland13
  14. Florida Atlantic14
  15. Arkansas State15
  16. Western Kentucky16
  17. Wyoming17
  18. Illinois18
  19. Ohio19
  20. Southern Miss20
  21. Middle Tennessee21
  22. Syracuse22
  23. Utah State23
  24. South Florida24
  25. Vanderbilt25
Tier 531
  1. Liberty1
  2. Ball State2
  3. Army3
  4. UTSA4
  5. Rutgers5
  6. Oregon State6
  7. Georgia Southern7
  8. Central Michigan8
  9. Georgia State9
  10. Eastern Michigan10
  11. Troy11
  12. South Alabama12
  13. Rice13
  14. New Mexico14
  15. Kent State15
  16. North Texas16
  17. Texas State17
  18. Miami (OH)18
  19. Charlotte19
  20. Colorado State20
  21. Akron21
  22. UTEP22
  23. New Mexico State23
  24. UConn24
  25. Old Dominion25
  26. UNLV26
  27. Massachusetts27
  28. Bowling Green28
  29. Louisiana-Monroe29
  30. Kansas30
  31. Florida International31