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 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.[1][2] One formerly independent school, UMass, will rejoin the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 2025.[3][4]
The 2025 season will be the last for eight FBS teams in their current conferences.[5][6][7][8][9]
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".
- 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 Coach to Player (green dot) communication technology currently used in FBS will be a permissible option for the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Points of Emphasis
- Continued focus on protection of defenseless players, concussions, pre-snap actions from both offense/defense, and feigning injuries.
- 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 impending settlement of the House v. NCAA legal case, which is expected to lead to a formal revenue-sharing arrangement between athletic programs and student athletes.[11][12][13]
Stadiums
- 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.[14]
Kickoff games
Week 0
The regular season will begin on Saturday, August 23 with five games in Week 0.
Week 1
Conference standings
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2025 Pac-12 Conference football standings
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Overall
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W |
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L |
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W |
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L |
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| Oregon State
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0
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– |
0
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0
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– |
0
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| Washington State
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0
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– |
0
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0
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– |
0
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As of July 11, 2025
Rankings from AP Poll
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Playoff qualifiers
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.[15]2025–26 College Football 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.[16][17]
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.[18]
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.[19] 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.[20]
Attendances
The top 30 NCAA Division I FBS football teams by average home attendance:
See also
Notes
- ^ 41 FBS bowl games plus the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
References
- ^ "CUSA Adds Delaware, Blue Hens to Join in 2025". Conference USA (Press release). November 28, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ "CUSA Adds Missouri State" (Press release). Conference USA. May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ Withers, Tom (February 27, 2024). "UMass will join Mid-American Conference as a full sports member in 2025, MAC commissioner says". Associated Press. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ Hernandez, Victoria (February 26, 2024). "UMass to join MAC conference, including previously independent football, per reports". USA Today. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ "Ushering in a new era, the Pac-12 Conference strengthens its legacy by welcoming four respected academic and athletic universities" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ Bonagura, Kyle (September 12, 2024). "Explaining Pac-12 expansion: How it started, what are the financial ramifications, what's next?". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ "Pac-12 Conference and Utah State University Unite to Advance the New Era of the 100-Year-Old Legacy" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ "Mountain West Officially Welcomes UTEP Into The Conference" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ "Mountain West Adds Northern Illinois As A Football-Only Member" (Press release). January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ "Changes to Injury Timeouts Approved in Football" (Press release). NCAA. April 16, 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
- ^ "New model represents innovative approach to future of college athletics" (Press release). University of Kentucky. April 24, 2025. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
- ^ Backus, Will (April 25, 2025). "Kentucky board of trustees approves shifting university's athletics department into limited liability company". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
- ^ Titus, Payton (April 27, 2025). "University of Kentucky, ahead of House settlement, approves board to help navigate change". Courier Journal. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
- ^ "UCF Announces Renaming of Football Stadium to Acrisure Bounce House".
- ^ "How the 12-team College Football Playoff will work: Teams, schedule, bids". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Thamel, Pete (October 30, 2022). "Big 12 nears six-year, $2.28B TV extension deal with ESPN, Fox". ESPN. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
- ^ Axelrod, Ben (November 18, 2024). "TNT lands Big 12 games from ESPN as part of WBD-NBA settlement". Awful Announcing. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Pac-12 football to be featured nationally across CBS, The CW and ESPN". Pac-12 Conference. April 29, 2025. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
- ^ Murray, Chris (January 9, 2020). "Mountain West announces media rights deal with CBS, Fox. Here are the details". Nevada Sports Net. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
- ^ Huddleston, Ben (May 30, 2025). "News: March Madness, softball, CW, and more". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
External links
Media related to 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season at Wikimedia Commons
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| All-Americans |
- 2025 College Football All-America Team
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