2025 season

136 teams across 5 tiers

National champion
BYUfrom Premier
Biggest riser (2025 tiers)
Texas Tech▲ 1 tier
Biggest faller
UCLA▼ 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
Ohio State
12-1 · +348 diff
Tier 243 pts
Texas Tech
12-1 · +410 diff
Tier 343 pts
Indiana
13-0 · +404 diff
Tier 423 pts
James Madison
12-1 · +279 diff
Tier 530 pts
Vanderbilt
10-2 · +210 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 State12142
2Oregon11140
3Georgia12140
4Texas A&M11136
5BYU11236
6Utah10235
7Ole Miss11134
8Oklahoma10233
9Alabama10332
10Notre Dame10231
11USC9330
12Michigan9326
13Iowa State8425
14Texas9324
15Iowa8423
16Clemson7522
17Washington8420
18LSU7519
19Kansas State6618
20Baylor5717
Relegation Zone
21Boise State9415Survived
22UCLA3912Relegated
23Penn State6611Relegated
24North Carolina485Relegated

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: BYU.

Round 1
simulated
Oklahoma18
Texas Tech15
simulated
BYU28
Arizona24
simulated
Ole Miss26
TCU24
simulated
Utah19
Indiana29
Quarterfinal
simulated
Ohio State33
Oklahoma25
simulated
Texas A&M24
BYU38
simulated
Oregon42
Ole Miss18
simulated
Georgia40
Indiana21
Semifinal
simulated
Ohio State25
BYU28
simulated
Oregon28
Georgia42
Championship
simulated
BYU26
Georgia19

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
Miami (FL)22
Cincinnati21
simulated
Houston23
Arizona State21
Final
simulated
Miami (FL)35
Houston32
Tier 3→ up to Tier 2
Semifinal
simulated
Virginia41
Georgia Tech13
simulated
Duke44
California31
Final
simulated
Virginia43
Duke30
Tier 4→ up to Tier 3
Semifinal
simulated
UNLV56
Hawaii39
simulated
Wake Forest5
Navy20
Final
simulated
UNLV26
Navy34
Tier 5→ up to Tier 4
Semifinal
simulated
North Texas47
UConn36
simulated
South Florida38
Old Dominion31
Final
simulated
North Texas48
South Florida36

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: Boise State
Semifinal
simulated
Boise State35
North Carolina25
simulated
UCLA3
Penn State16
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Boise State35
Penn State28
Tier 2bottom 4 · survivor: Oklahoma State
Semifinal
simulated
Michigan State12
Oklahoma State22
simulated
South Carolina36
Air Force23
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Oklahoma State33
South Carolina31
Tier 3bottom 4 · survivor: Boston College
Semifinal
simulated
Oregon State37
Arkansas38
simulated
Northern Illinois26
Boston College36
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Arkansas33
Boston College34
Tier 4bottom 4 · survivor: Liberty
Semifinal
simulated
Wyoming30
Purdue7
simulated
Liberty30
San Jose State21
Survival Final· winner stays up
simulated
Wyoming23
Liberty41

2026 starting tiers

Cascade from 2025: promoted teams move up, relegated teams move down, and FBS membership is reconciled against CFBD's roster for the next year.

Premier24
  1. Texas Tech1
  2. Ohio State2
  3. Oregon3
  4. Georgia4
  5. Texas A&M5
  6. BYU6
  7. Utah7
  8. Ole Miss8
  9. Oklahoma9
  10. Alabama10
  11. Notre Dame11
  12. USC12
  13. TCU13
  14. Miami (FL)14
  15. Michigan15
  16. Iowa State16
  17. Texas17
  18. Iowa18
  19. Clemson19
  20. Washington20
  21. LSU21
  22. Kansas State22
  23. Baylor23
  24. Boise State24
Tier 224
  1. Indiana1
  2. Arizona2
  3. Virginia3
  4. Houston4
  5. Arizona State5
  6. Cincinnati6
  7. Missouri7
  8. SMU8
  9. Louisville9
  10. NC State10
  11. Tennessee11
  12. Minnesota12
  13. UCF13
  14. Florida14
  15. UCLA15
  16. Memphis16
  17. Florida State17
  18. Penn State18
  19. Washington State19
  20. Wisconsin20
  21. Auburn21
  22. West Virginia22
  23. North Carolina23
  24. Oklahoma State24
Tier 326
  1. Duke1
  2. James Madison2
  3. California3
  4. Georgia Tech4
  5. Tulane5
  6. Illinois6
  7. San Diego State7
  8. Nebraska8
  9. Pittsburgh9
  10. Fresno State10
  11. Navy11
  12. Northwestern12
  13. Kansas13
  14. Western Michigan14
  15. Kentucky15
  16. Toledo16
  17. Mississippi State17
  18. Michigan State18
  19. South Carolina19
  20. Maryland20
  21. Colorado21
  22. Louisiana-Lafayette22
  23. Virginia Tech23
  24. Air Force24
  25. Marshall25
  26. Boston College26
Tier 425
  1. Vanderbilt1
  2. UNLV2
  3. Wake Forest3
  4. New Mexico4
  5. North Texas5
  6. Hawaii6
  7. East Carolina7
  8. Ohio8
  9. Stanford9
  10. Utah State10
  11. Army11
  12. Miami (OH)12
  13. Troy13
  14. Rutgers14
  15. Tulsa15
  16. Georgia Southern16
  17. App State17
  18. Coastal Carolina18
  19. Western Kentucky19
  20. UTSA20
  21. Syracuse21
  22. Oregon State22
  23. Liberty23
  24. Northern Illinois24
  25. Arkansas25
Tier 537
  1. South Florida1
  2. Old Dominion2
  3. UConn3
  4. Kennesaw State4
  5. Southern Miss5
  6. Jacksonville State6
  7. Missouri State7
  8. Florida International8
  9. Arkansas State9
  10. Louisiana Tech10
  11. Central Michigan11
  12. UAB12
  13. Texas State13
  14. Temple14
  15. Bowling Green15
  16. Kent State16
  17. Rice17
  18. Delaware18
  19. Eastern Michigan19
  20. Buffalo20
  21. Wyoming21
  22. Akron22
  23. New Mexico State23
  24. Florida Atlantic24
  25. Nevada25
  26. Ball State26
  27. Sam Houston27
  28. South Alabama28
  29. San Jose State29
  30. Colorado State30
  31. Louisiana-Monroe31
  32. UTEP32
  33. Purdue33
  34. Middle Tennessee34
  35. Georgia State35
  36. Charlotte36
  37. Massachusetts37