2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season

For the 2025 FCS season, see 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

The 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season will be the 156th season of college football in the United States, the 120th season organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the 50th of the highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The regular season will begin on August 23 and is scheduled to end on December 13. The postseason will begin on December 13, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, end on January 19, 2026, with the College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This will be the second season of the 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) system.

2025 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams	136
Duration	August 23, 2025 – December 13, 2025
Postseason
Duration	December 13, 2025 – January 19, 2026
Bowl games	41[a]
College Football Playoff
2026 College Football Playoff National Championship
Site	Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2024

Conference realignment

Main article: 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment

Two schools are playing their first FBS seasons in 2025; Delaware (from the Coastal Athletic Association) and Missouri State (from the Missouri Valley conference) began their transitions from Division I FCS in 2024 and joined Conference USA (CUSA) in July 2025.^[1][2] One formerly independent school, UMass, rejoined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 2025, but this time as a full member instead of football-only.^[3][4]

Team	Conference in 2024	Conference in 2025
Delaware	CAA Football (FCS)	CUSA
Missouri State	Missouri Valley (FCS)	CUSA
UMass	Independent (FBS)	MAC

The 2025 season will be the last for eight FBS teams in their current conferences.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

School	Current conference	Future conference
Boise State	Mountain West	Pac-12
Colorado State	Mountain West	Pac-12
Fresno State	Mountain West	Pac-12
Northern Illinois	MAC	Mountain West
San Diego State	Mountain West	Pac-12
Texas State	Sun Belt	Pac-12
Utah State	Mountain West	Pac-12
UTEP	CUSA	Mountain West

Rule changes

The following playing rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee on April 17, 2025:^[10]

• In an effort to reduce feigned injuries, if medical personnel have to enter the field to tend to an injured player after the ball is spotted by officials ready for play, that team will be charged a timeout (or a five-yard delay of game penalty if out of timeouts). If this occurs after the two-minute timeout (and the injury is the only reason for the clock to stop), a 10-second runoff applies if the team is out of timeouts.
• Starting with the third overtime period, teams will only be permitted one timeout to use until the game is concluded. Previously teams received a timeout for each overtime period, including the two-point attempts that begin with the third overtime.
• Once a decision is made on instant replay reviews, the referee will only use the terms "Overturned" and "Upheld". "Confirmed" or "Stands" will no longer be used.
• On punt formations, no player can be directly in line of the snap to a potential kicker and no player can be inside of the frame of the snapper to qualify as a legal scrimmage kick formation. If these requirements are not met, five players numbered 50-79 must be on the line of scrimmage. Also if the snapper is on the end of a line, he loses the scrimmage kick protection and the defense can line up a player over the snapper.
• If a player on the kickoff return team gives a "T" signal with his arms, the team gives up their right to return the kickoff and the play will be whistled dead.
• Enhance rules regarding words or signals used to distract opponents trying to put the ball in play. The terms "stem" and "move" would only be permitted for defenses, and defenses cannot use cadence or sounds that simulate offensive team signals.
• Included players attempting to recover a loose ball to the list of "defenseless players".
• Contact to an offensive player in a passing posture is now considered "Roughing the Passer", if targeting occurs with this act, the roughing the passer penalty would remain even if the targeting penalty is overturned on replay.
• Adding "brandishing a weapon" to the list of acts considered unsportsmanlike conduct.
• Codifying the rule change from 2024's Ohio State–Oregon game, after the two-minute time-out, teams called for having 12 or more players participating in a down will be penalized five yards, and the offense would have the option to reset the game clock to the time at the start of the play. If the 12th or more player(s) were running off the field and had no influence on the play, the yardage penalty would apply but no clock reset option would be available. The clock reset option is also available without accepting the penalty.
• The Coach to Player (green dot) communication technology currently used in FBS will be a permissible option for the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In 2026, the C2P technology will be allowed in Divisions II & III.

Points of emphasis

• Continued focus on protection of defenseless players, concussions, pre-snap actions from both offense/defense, and feigning injuries.^[11]
• Focus on penalizing taunting actions by players and pre-game actions between teams that become unsportsmanlike conduct.
• Sideline control, including leaving the playing area to dispute an officiating decision.
• Illegal contact against a passer.
• Pace of play and substituting during up-tempo offenses, ensuring defenses are not at a disadvantage before the snap.

Headlines

• April 25, 2025 – The University of Kentucky (UK) board of trustees approved a proposal to transfer the UK athletic program to a separate though related non-profit company known as Champions Blue, LLC. Both UK and outside media characterized the move, believed to be the first of its type by a major university, as a reaction to the then-impending settlement of the House v. NCAA legal case, which led to a formal revenue-sharing arrangement between athletic programs and student-athletes.^[12][13][14]
• July 21, 2025 – The American Athletic Conference announced a name change to the American Conference as part of a comprehensive rebranding strategy. The conference will also no longer use an initialism, opting for "American" as its short form.^[15]

Stadiums

• Due to the construction of a new press box at Bowers Stadium, Sam Houston will play its 2025 home games at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.^[16]
• The UCF Knights announced new naming rights as following the name change of FBC Mortage to Acrisure Mortgage, the FBC Mortgage Stadium was renamed to the Acrisure Bounce House.^[17]

Kickoff games

Week 0

The regular season will begin on Saturday, August 23 with five games in Week 0.

• Aer Lingus College Football Classic (at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland):
  • No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State
• Fresno State at Kansas
• Sam Houston at Western Kentucky
• Stanford at Hawaii
• Idaho State at UNLV

Week 1

• Aflac Kickoff Game (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia):
  • No. 24 Tennessee vs. Syracuse
  • No. 13 South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech
• Duke's Mayo Classic (at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina):
  • Appalachian State vs. Charlotte

Top 10 matchups

Rankings through Week 8 reflect the AP poll. Rankings for Week 9 and beyond list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP poll rankings second; teams that were not ranked in the top 10 of both polls are noted.

Regular season

• Week 1
  • No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio)
  • No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson (Memorial Stadium, Clemson, South Carolina)
  • No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami (FL) (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida)

Conference standings

2025 American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Army   0 – 0     0 – 0   Charlotte   0 – 0     0 – 0   East Carolina   0 – 0     0 – 0   Florida Atlantic   0 – 0     0 – 0   Memphis   0 – 0     0 – 0   Navy   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Texas   0 – 0     0 – 0   Rice   0 – 0     0 – 0   South Florida   0 – 0     0 – 0   Temple   0 – 0     0 – 0   Tulane   0 – 0     0 – 0   Tulsa   0 – 0     0 – 0   UAB   0 – 0     0 – 0   UTSA   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 5, 2025 As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Boston College   0 – 0     0 – 0   California   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 4 Clemson   0 – 0     0 – 0   Duke   0 – 0     0 – 0   Florida State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Georgia Tech   0 – 0     0 – 0   Louisville   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 10 Miami (FL)   0 – 0     0 – 0   North Carolina   0 – 0     0 – 0   NC State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Pittsburgh   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 16 SMU   0 – 0     0 – 0   Stanford   0 – 0     0 – 0   Syracuse   0 – 0     0 – 0   Virginia   0 – 0     0 – 0   Virginia Tech   0 – 0     0 – 0   Wake Forest   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 6, 2025 As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Illinois   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 20 Indiana   0 – 0     0 – 0   Iowa   0 – 0     0 – 0   Maryland   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 14 Michigan   0 – 0     0 – 0   Michigan State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Minnesota   0 – 0     0 – 0   Nebraska   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northwestern   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 3 Ohio State   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 7 Oregon   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 2 Penn State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Purdue   0 – 0     0 – 0   Rutgers   0 – 0     0 – 0   UCLA   0 – 0     0 – 0   USC   0 – 0     0 – 0   Washington   0 – 0     0 – 0   Wisconsin   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 6, 2025 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll
2025 Big 12 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Arizona   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 11 Arizona State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Baylor   0 – 0     0 – 0   BYU   0 – 0     0 – 0   Cincinnati   0 – 0     0 – 0   Colorado   0 – 0     0 – 0   Houston   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 22 Iowa State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Kansas   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 17 Kansas State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Oklahoma State   0 – 0     0 – 0   TCU   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 23 Texas Tech   0 – 0     0 – 0   UCF   0 – 0     0 – 0   Utah   0 – 0     0 – 0   West Virginia   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 6, 2025 ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 Conference USA football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Delaware*   0 – 0     0 – 0   FIU   0 – 0     0 – 0   Jacksonville State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Kennesaw State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Liberty   0 – 0     0 – 0   Louisiana Tech   0 – 0     0 – 0   Middle Tennessee   0 – 0     0 – 0   Missouri State*   0 – 0     0 – 0   New Mexico State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Sam Houston   0 – 0     0 – 0   UTEP   0 – 0     0 – 0   Western Kentucky   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 5, 2025 * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules As of August 22, 2025	2025 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Akron*   0 – 0     0 – 0   Ball State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Bowling Green   0 – 0     0 – 0   Buffalo   0 – 0     0 – 0   Central Michigan   0 – 0     0 – 0   Eastern Michigan   0 – 0     0 – 0   Kent State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Miami (OH)   0 – 0     0 – 0   Northern Illinois   0 – 0     0 – 0   Ohio   0 – 0     0 – 0   Toledo   0 – 0     0 – 0   UMass   0 – 0     0 – 0   Western Michigan   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 6, 2025 * Ineligible for postseason play due to low APR score As of August 22, 2025
2025 Mountain West Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Air Force   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 25 Boise State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Colorado State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Fresno State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Hawaii   0 – 0     0 – 0   Nevada   0 – 0     0 – 0   New Mexico   0 – 0     0 – 0   San Diego State   0 – 0     0 – 0   San Jose State   0 – 0     0 – 0   UNLV   0 – 0     0 – 0   Utah State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Wyoming   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 5, 2025 As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 Pac-12 Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Oregon State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Washington State   0 – 0     0 – 0   As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Alabama   0 – 0     0 – 0   Arkansas   0 – 0     0 – 0   Auburn   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 15 Florida   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 5 Georgia   0 – 0     0 – 0   Kentucky   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 9 LSU   0 – 0     0 – 0   Mississippi State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Missouri   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 18 Oklahoma   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 21 Ole Miss   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 13 South Carolina   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 24 Tennessee   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 1 Texas   0 – 0     0 – 0   No. 19 Texas A&M   0 – 0     0 – 0   Vanderbilt   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 6, 2025 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll
2025 Sun Belt Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Appalachian State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Coastal Carolina   0 – 0     0 – 0   Georgia Southern   0 – 0     0 – 0   Georgia State   0 – 0     0 – 0   James Madison   0 – 0     0 – 0   Marshall   0 – 0     0 – 0   Old Dominion   0 – 0     0 – 0   West Division Arkansas State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Louisiana   0 – 0     0 – 0   Louisiana–Monroe   0 – 0     0 – 0   South Alabama   0 – 0     0 – 0   Southern Miss   0 – 0     0 – 0   Texas State   0 – 0     0 – 0   Troy   0 – 0     0 – 0   Championship: December 5, 2025 As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll	2025 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records v t e Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Notre Dame   –     0 – 0   UConn   –     0 – 0   As of August 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

Rankings

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls

Preseason polls

AP Ranking Team 1 Texas (25) 2 Penn State (23) 3 Ohio State (11) 4 Clemson (4) 5 Georgia (1) 6 Notre Dame 7 Oregon (1) 8 Alabama 9 LSU 10 Miami (FL) 11 Arizona State 12 Illinois 13 South Carolina 14 Michigan 15 Florida 16 SMU 17 Kansas State 18 Oklahoma 19 Texas A&M 20 Indiana 21 Ole Miss 22 Iowa State 23 Texas Tech 24 Tennessee 25 Boise State

USA Today Coaches Ranking Team 1 Texas (28) 2 Ohio State (20) 3 Penn State (14) 4 Georgia (3) 5 Notre Dame 6 Clemson (2) 7 Oregon 8 Alabama 9 LSU 10 Miami (FL) 11 Arizona State 12 Illinois 13 South Carolina 14 Michigan 15 Ole Miss 16 SMU 17 Florida 18 Tennessee 19 Indiana 20 Kansas State 21т Texas A&M Iowa State 23 BYU 24 Texas Tech 25 Boise State

Playoff qualifiers

College Football Playoff bracket

Main article: 2025–26 College Football Playoff

This is the second year under the expanded College Football Playoff format. Under this format, the five highest-ranked conference champions will receive automatic bids, while the next seven highest-ranked teams will receive at-large bids. In a change starting this season, the top four seeds receive first-round byes, even if they are not conference champions.^[18]

Postseason

Main article: 2025–26 NCAA football bowl games

Normally, a team is required to have a .500 minimum winning percentage during the regular season to become bowl-eligible (six wins for an 11- or 12-game schedule, and seven wins for a 13-game schedule). If there are not enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records may be chosen to fill available bowl slots. Additionally, on the rare occasion in which a conference champion does not meet eligibility requirements, they are usually still chosen for bowl games via tie-ins for their conference.

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2025, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game before it's bowl game. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2025, see 2024 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing Coach	Date	Reason	Replacement

Television changes

This is the first season of a new television contract for the Big 12 Conference with ESPN, Fox Sports and TNT Sports. ESPN will hold the rights to the top four college football games per season, and twelve of the top twenty games, along with the Big 12 Championship Game. TNT Sports will sublicense thirteen games from ESPN.^[19][20]

The Pac-12 Conference renewed their media partnership with The CW for the 2025 season, while also agreeing to two-game deals with ESPN and CBS Sports. While The CW will continue to carry majority of the home games for Oregon State and Washington State, ESPN will carry two Oregon State home games and CBS will carry one home game from each school in primetime.^[21]

This is the final year of the Mountain West Conference's broadcast agreement with Fox Sports and CBS Sports. The conference has not yet announced a new agreement.^[22] Despite being announced as a multi-year deal, the Mountain West did not continue an agreement with TNT Sports from 2024 to air 14 games on TruTV.^[23]

Attendances

The top 30 NCAA Division I FBS football teams by average home attendance:

See also

• 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2025 NCAA Division II football season
• 2025 NCAA Division III football season
• 2025 NAIA football season
• 2025 U Sports football season

Notes

1. 41 FBS bowl games plus the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.