2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2017 and ended on December 9, 2017. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs played in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime, 26–23. The UCF Knights also claim a national championship for this season after finishing first in the Colley Matrix poll, and are listed as "Final National Poll Leaders" in the  NCAA's official record book (the NCAA reserves the term "National Champion" for the winner of the AP Poll or Coaches Poll)."" UCF finished the season as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I FBS and defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl. Auburn had defeated College Football Playoff national champion Alabama and runner-up Georgia during the season. Rule changes. Game rules. The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2017 season: The committee left the current targeting rules unchanged for the 2017 season, despite discussions to modify the rule to  eject a player for targeting only if the call is confirmed, not if the call stands due to lack of "indisputable video evidence" to overturn the ruling on the field. Points of emphasis this season include speeding up games by: Conference realignment. Membership changes. Coastal Carolina was in the second year of its FBS transition. It was counted as an FBS opponent for scheduling purposes, with full FBS membership and bowl eligibility following in the 2018 season. The UAB football team returned after a two-year absence. The program was shut down by school administrators following the 2014 season but  was reinstated less than a year later. UAB resumed its place as a full football-sponsoring member of Conference USA. Upcoming changes. Idaho and New Mexico State played their final seasons as football members of the Sun Belt Conference. Idaho also played its last season at the FBS level; following the decision of the Sun Belt to not extend its football membership agreements with the two schools after their expirations in 2017, Idaho announced that it would downgrade to FCS and add football to its standing membership in the Big Sky Conference. New Mexico State reverted to FBS Independent status  for 2018 and beyond. Updated stadiums. Two schools opened new stadiums for the 2017 season: Several other schools debuted major improvements to their existing venues for 2017: Two schools announced naming rights deals for their stadiums: Kickoff games. Section::::"Week Zero". A recent rule change allows Hawaii, and teams that have a scheduled game at Hawaii, to play during the "Week Zero" kickoff weekend in late August. This change better accommodates the long-standing "Hawaii rule" that allows schools which travel between Hawaii and the mainland (including schools based in Hawaii) to schedule an extra game each season. Four schools took  advantage of the extra week, opening the 2017 FBS season on Saturday, August 26: Week 1. The vast majority of FBS teams opened the season during the official Week 1 (as usual, held the weekend before Labor Day). Additionally, several neutral-site "kickoff weekend" games were held: Regular season top 10 matchups. Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond will list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that fail to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted. Conference summaries. Through the 2015 season, conferences were  required to have a minimum of 12 football members to play a conference championship game outside of the NCAA limit of 12 regular-season games. The NCAA removed this requirement effective with the 2016 season. At that time, all FBS conferences except the Big 12 and Sun Belt Conferences held championship games for football. The Big 12 reinstated its championship game for the 2017 season, while the Sun Belt determined its 2017 football champion solely by regular-season records before launching a championship game starting in 2018. Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were  played. Group of Five Conferences. College Football Playoff participant Postseason. Bowl selections. There were 39 post-season bowl games, with two teams advancing to a 40th – the CFP National Championship game. Normally, a team is required to have a .500 minimum winning percentage during the regular season to become bowl eligible. If there are not enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records may be chosen to fill all 78 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. For the 2017 season, no team with a losing record was chosen for a bowl game. Three bowl-eligible teams, including one with a winning record, were denied bowl bids. Bowl eligible teams. An asterisk (*) indicates the team did not receive a bowl bid. Number of bowl berths available: 78 Number of bowl-eligible teams: 81 As there were more bowl-eligible teams than berths available, three bowl-eligible teams did not receive an invitation: Bowl ineligible teams. Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 49 <nowiki>*</nowiki> Ole Miss, who finished their regular season  with a 6–6 record, is under a self-imposed two-year bowl ban that applies for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. College Football Playoff. Since the 2014–15 postseason, six College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games have hosted two semifinal playoff games on a rotating basis. For this season, the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl hosted the semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Coaching changes. Preseason and in-season. This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2017. For coaching  changes that occurred earlier in 2017, see 2016 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes. End of season. This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season. Awards and honors. Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player. Offense. Quarterback Running back Wide receiver Tight end Lineman Defense. Defensive line Defensive back