2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 156th season of college football in the United States and the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff format. The regular season ran August 23 to December 13, 2025, with the postseason ending January 19, 2026. The CFP National Championship was held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, where Indiana defeated Miami 27–21 to win the national title and finish 16–0, the first perfect season in FBS since Yale in 1894.
Key points
- New and transitioning teams: Delaware and Missouri State joined FBS, with Delaware moving to Conference USA and Missouri State joining C-USA in July 2025. UMass returned to the MAC as a full member. Eight FBS teams left their conferences after this season.
- Playoff format: The College Football Playoff again featured 12 teams. The top four seeds earned first-round byes, and for the first time two Group of Five teams (Tulane and James Madison) earned playoff berths. Seven teams earned CFP berths overall (automatic conference champions and at-large bids).
- Bowl and eligibility: There were 41 bowl games, with 82 bowl-eligible teams and 54 ineligible teams. The Bahamas Bowl was replaced by the Xbox Bowl. The Pac-12 had two teams (Washington State and Oregon State) but no conference champion.
- Awards: Fernando Mendoza, quarterback of Indiana, won the Heisman Trophy.
- Media and television: The Big 12 began a new multi-network TV deal with ESPN, Fox, and TNT. The Pac-12 renewed its deal with The CW and added agreements with ESPN and CBS. The Mountain West was in its final year of existing TV deals with Fox and CBS.
- Other notes: The season included coaching changes and the addition of new bowls and events, such as the HBCU Legacy Bowl.
These are the major points from the 2025 season.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:56 (CET).