# 2025 NCAA Division I FBS 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 19, 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.

## 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 will join Conference USA (CUSA) in July 2025. One formerly independent school, UMass, will rejoin the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 2025.
| 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 seven FBS teams in their current conferences.
| 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 |
| Utah State | Mountain West | Pac-12 |
| UTEP | CUSA | Mountain West |

## Rule Changes

The following playing rule changes were recommended by the Football Rules Committee on February 28, 2025:
* 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.
* Updating the terminology used on instant replay announcements to "Overturned" and "Upheld" instead of "Confirmed" or "Stands".
* On punt formations, no player can be directly in line of the snap to a potential kicker, no player can be inside of the frame of the snapper, not having enough players on the line is an illegal formation penalty (five yards) and 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, 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 used cadence or sounds that simulate offensive team signals.
* 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 not participating in the down (ex. running off the field at the snap), the yardage penalty would apply but no clock reset option would be available.
* Proposed the Coach to Player (green dot) communication technology currently used in FBS be made available to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

## Kickoff games
### Week 0

The regular season will begin on Saturday, August 23 with four games in Week 0.
* Aer Lingus College Football Classic:
** Iowa State vs. Kansas State (at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland)
* Fresno State at Kansas
* Sam Houston at Western Kentucky
* Stanford at Hawaii

### Week 1

* Aflac Kickoff Game (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia):
** Tennessee vs. Syracuse
** South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech
* Duke's Mayo Classic (at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina):
** Appalachian State vs. Charlotte

## Conference standings

2025 American Athletic Conference football standings :
| 2025 American Athletic Conference football standings vteConf.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 March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Boston College  0 –0  0 –0   California  0 –0  0 –0   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   Miami (FL)  0 –0  0 –0   North Carolina  0 –0  0 –0   NC State  0 –0  0 –0   Pittsburgh  0 –0  0 –0   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 March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | 2025 Big Ten Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Illinois  0 –0  0 –0   Indiana  0 –0  0 –0   Iowa  0 –0  0 –0   Maryland  0 –0  0 –0   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   Ohio State  0 –0  0 –0   Oregon  0 –0  0 –0   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 championy – Championship game participantAs of March 11, 2025 Rankings from CFP Rankings |
| 2025 Big 12 Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Arizona  0 –0  0 –0   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   Iowa State  0 –0  0 –0   Kansas  0 –0  0 –0   Kansas State  0 –0  0 –0   Oklahoma State  0 –0  0 –0   TCU  0 –0  0 –0   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 championy – Championship game participantAs of March 11, 2025 Rankings from CFP Rankings | 2025 Conference USA football standings vteConf.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 rulesAs of March 11, 2025 | 2025 Mid-American Conference football standings vteConf.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 As of March 11, 2025 |
| 2025 Mountain West Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Air Force  0 –0  0 –0   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 March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | 2025 Pac-12 Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Oregon State  0 –0  0 –0   Washington State  0 –0  0 –0   As of March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | 2025 Southeastern Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Alabama  0 –0  0 –0   Arkansas  0 –0  0 –0   Auburn  0 –0  0 –0   Florida  0 –0  0 –0   Georgia  0 –0  0 –0   Kentucky  0 –0  0 –0   LSU  0 –0  0 –0   Mississippi State  0 –0  0 –0   Missouri  0 –0  0 –0   Oklahoma  0 –0  0 –0   Ole Miss  0 –0  0 –0   South Carolina  0 –0  0 –0   Tennessee  0 –0  0 –0   Texas  0 –0  0 –0   Texas A&M  0 –0  0 –0   Vanderbilt  0 –0  0 –0   Championship: December 6, 2025 $ – Conference championy – Championship game participantAs of March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll |
| 2025 Sun Belt Conference football standings vteConf.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 6, 2025 As of March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | 2025 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  Notre Dame   –  0 –0   UConn   –  0 –0   As of March 11, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll |

## Playoff qualifiers
### College Football Playoff bracket

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. The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive a first-round bye in the playoff.

## Postseason

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.

## 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.