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2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season

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For the 2021 FCS season, see 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
2021 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams130
DurationAugust 28 – December 11, 2021
Preseason AP No. 1Alabama
Postseason
DurationDecember 17, 2021 – January 10, 2022
Bowl games44 scheduled
College Football Playoff
2022 College Football Playoff National Championship
SiteLucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, Indiana
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season is the ongoing 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. It began on August 28, 2021,[1], is scheduled to end on December 11. The postseason will begin on December 18, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, end on January 10, 2022, with the College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This will be the eighth season of the College Football Playoff (CFP) system.[2]

Rule changes

The following rule changes, recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2021 season on March 12 of that year, were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on April 22.[3][4]

  • In overtime, teams scoring a touchdown will be required to attempt a two-point conversion starting with the second overtime period (previously the third overtime period). If the scores are still tied at the expiration of the second overtime, teams will be required to attempt alternating two point conversions starting with the third overtime (previously the fifth overtime period). Teams can still choose to go for the PAT kick or two-point conversion during the first overtime period. The first game using this procedure was on September 18 between Utah and San Diego State, won by SDSU 33–31 in three overtimes. On October 23, the all-time FBS record for most overtimes in a single game was broken when Illinois defeated host Penn State 20–18 in nine overtimes.
  • Permanently extending the team area from between the 25-yard lines to between the 20-yard lines. A rule implemented for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic had extended this area to between the 15-yard lines, but it had been scheduled to revert to the 25 for 2021.
  • Provide a framework to allow a school or conference to request a postgame video review about questionable actions (i.e. feigning injuries to stop the clock and slow down teams' momentum) through the NCAA secretary-rules editor/national coordinator of officials.
  • Explicitly prohibiting video board and lighting system operators from creating "any distraction that obstructs play", with violations being deemed unsportsmanlike conduct.
  • If replay overturns a call on the field, the game clock will only be adjusted inside of the last 2:00 of the first half and the last 5:00 of the second half.

"Points of Emphasis" for the 2021 season include:

  • Any taunting action toward an opponent will be penalized.
  • Automatic unsportsmanlike conduct penalties will be imposed on a coach who leaves the team area or goes onto the field of play to argue with the officials.
  • Officials are to be more alert to players significantly in violation of uniform rules (specifically pants, jerseys, and T-shirts that extend below the torso), and to send violators out of the game to correct the issue.

Other headlines

  • On April 15, 2021, the NCAA Division I Council adopted legislation that extended the so-called "one-time transfer exception" to all D-I sports, with the Division I Board of Directors ratifying this on April 28. This allows student-athletes in baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, and men's ice hockey to transfer one time without having to sit out a year, placing them under the same transfer regulations that previously applied to all other D-I sports.[5][6]
  • On June 10, the College Football Playoff announced that it had begun work on a proposal to expand the playoff to 12 teams in the indefinite future. Under the proposed format:[7]
    • The six conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee would receive automatic berths. The field would be filled out by the committee's six highest-ranked remaining teams, with no restrictions on conference affiliation.
    • The four highest-ranked conference champions would receive first-round byes.
    • The remaining 8 teams would play first-round games hosted by the higher seeds.
    • The quarterfinals and semifinals would be hosted by existing bowl games, with the final continuing to be held at a separately determined neutral site.
  • On June 21, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston that the NCAA had no authority to limit education-related non-cash compensation for athletes, but stopped short of addressing direct cash payments to college athletes.
  • On July 21, the Houston Chronicle reported that Oklahoma and Texas had approached the Southeastern Conference about the possibility of joining that league, and that an announcement could come in early August. The SEC and both schools refused comment on this report, but did not issue definitive denials.[8][9]
  • On July 26, Oklahoma and Texas notified the Big 12 Conference that the two schools do not wish to extend its grant of television rights beyond the 2024–25 athletic year and intend to leave the conference.[10][11]
  • On July 27, Oklahoma and Texas reached out to the SEC about acceptance into the conference in 2025.[12][13]
  • July 28 – The Big 12 sent a cease-and-desist letter to ESPN, accusing the network of tortious interference by working with other conferences attempting to lure Big 12 members in a bid to ease Oklahoma's and Texas' exits for the SEC. The network denied the allegations.[14]
  • July 29 – The presidents and chancellors of the 14 current SEC members voted unanimously to extend invitations to Oklahoma and Texas, effective in 2025.[15]
  • July 30 – The boards of regents of both Oklahoma and Texas unanimously accepted the SEC's invitations.[16]
  • August 16 – The Associated Press released its preseason rankings, with Alabama as the overwhelming choice for #1. Other ranking highlights:[17]
  • August 24 – The Pac-12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, and Atlantic Coast Conference announced an alliance designed to "stabilize the current environment" by collaborating on a number of issues, including scheduling for football, men's and women's basketball.[18]
  • September 3 – Multiple media outlets reported that the Big 12 was on the verge of inviting four schools—American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, plus BYU, an FBS independent and otherwise a member of the non-football West Coast Conference. All four schools were reportedly preparing membership applications, and reports were that their future entrance could be approved as early as the next scheduled meeting of Big 12 presidents on September 10. The entry timeline was uncertain at the time of the report, but 2024 was seen as the likeliest date.[19][20]
  • September 10 – BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF were officially announced as incoming Big 12 members no later than 2024–25.[21]
  • October 18 – Yahoo Sports reported that The American, which had been rocked by the impending departure of three of its most prominent schools, was preparing to receive applications from six of the 14 members of Conference USA—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. Should all six schools join, The American would become a 14-team conference in all sports. (Navy is a football-only member, while Wichita State is a full member but does not sponsor football.)[22]
  • October 19 – ESPN reported that all six C-USA members named in Yahoo Sports' report had submitted applications to The American, and that each would receive a formal letter by the end of that week (October 22) detailing the terms of expansion.[23]
  • October 21 – The six aforementioned C-USA members were announced as incoming members of The American at a date to be determined.[24]
  • October 22 – The Action Network reported that C-USA member Southern Miss had accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2023, though no formal announcement had then been made. The report added that the Sun Belt was preparing to add two other C-USA members, Marshall and Old Dominion, as well as FCS program James Madison. At the time, formal announcements of new members were expected on October 25, but an announcement regarding Marshall was likely to wait until after the school announced its new president on October 28.[25]
  • October 26 – Southern Miss was officially announced as a Sun Belt member, effective no later than July 2023.[26] In other Sun Belt realignment news, it was reported that Old Dominion's arrival would be announced later that week, and that James Madison's board had scheduled an emergency meeting on October 29 (presumably to discuss a Sun Belt invitation).[27]
  • October 27 – Old Dominion was officially announced as a Sun Belt member, also effective no later than July 2023. This marked ODU's return to that conference after an absence of more that 30 years.[28]
  • October 30 – The day after both the Sun Belt Conference and Marshall issued tweets indicating that the Thundering Herd had accepted a Sun Belt invitation,[29] this move was officially announced.[30]
  • November 5 – Multiple media outlets reported that Conference USA, which had nine of their schools depart to other separate conferences, handed out invitations to four schools: FBS independents Liberty and New Mexico State as well as FCS programs Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State, which were all accepted.[31]
  • November 6 – James Madison made their move to the Sun Belt official, effective no later than July 2023.[32]
  • November 23 – Cincinnati became the first Group of Five team ever to receive a top-four College Football Playoff ranking, coming in at fourth in this week's rankings.[33]

Conference realignment and new programs

Membership changes

School Former conference New conference
UConn Huskies[a] American Athletic Conference independent
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Atlantic Coast Conference (2020 only)[b] independent
  1. ^ UConn became independent in 2020, but canceled its 2020 season.
  2. ^ Notre Dame became a temporary full member of the ACC in 2020 due to the move by most conferences to play conference-only schedules during the pandemic season.

The 2021 season will be the last for 0 Division I schools in their current conferences. One FCS school will start its transition to FBS after the season.

Stadiums

  • This is the first season for UAB at Protective Stadium, replacing its old stadium, Legion Field. The first game was a 36–12 UAB loss to Liberty on October 2.[34]
  • With the closure of Aloha Stadium to future events and plans to build a new stadium on the site, Hawaiʻi will play through at least the 2023 season at the on-campus Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex, home to the university's track and field program. A project expanded the stadium to at least 10,000 in time for the 2021 season, and was completed in just over four months.[35][36] However, due to city and state COVID-19 public health orders restricting gatherings, and taking into consideration the isolated nature of the state from the mainland in receiving aid to deal with the pandemic, all games were to be played behind closed doors until further notice. It is the only team in Division I FBS that is restricting attendance.[37] On October 8, 2021, Mayor of Honolulu Rick Blangiardi gave permission for the stadium to host 1,000 spectators. All spectators must wear masks and be fully-vaccinated (if capable of being so).[38] In November 2021, capacity limitations were lifted, but all other restrictions remained in force.[39]

Kickoff games

Rankings reflect the AP Poll entering each week.

"Week Zero"

The regular season began on Saturday, August 28 with five games in Week 0.

Week 1

The majority of FBS teams opened the season on Labor Day weekend. Eight neutral-site "kickoff" games were held.

  1. ^ Illinois and Nebraska were originally scheduled to play at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The game was moved back to the United States due to travel concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

FCS team wins over FBS teams

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 2 7:30 p.m. No. 23 (FCS) UC Davis Tulsa Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK ESPN+  19–17   15,085
September 2 10:00 p.m. No. 11 (FCS) Eastern Washington UNLV Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, NV Stadium  35–33 OT  21,970
September 3 9:00 p.m. No. 3 (FCS) South Dakota State Colorado State Canvas Stadium • Fort Collins, CO FS1  42–23   32,327
September 4 12:00 p.m. (FCS) Holy Cross UConn Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT CBSSN  38–28   18,782
September 4 8:00 p.m. No. 9 (FCS) Montana No. 20 Washington Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA P12N  13–7   64,053
September 4 8:00 p.m. (FCS) East Tennessee State Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN ESPN+/SECN+  23–3   22,029
September 11 2:00 p.m. (FCS) Duquesne Ohio Peden Stadium • Athens, OH ESPN3  28–26   19,411
September 11 8:00 p.m. No. 16 (FCS) Jacksonville State Florida State Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL ACCN  20–17   60,198
September 18 8:00 p.m. (FCS) Incarnate Word Texas State Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX ESPN3  42–34   16,107
September 18 10:00 p.m. (FCS) Northern Arizona Arizona Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ P12N  21–19   33,481
November 6 3:30 p.m. (FCS) Rhode Island UMass Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, MA NESN  35–22   7,284
November 13 12:00 p.m. (FCS) Maine UMass Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, MA NESN  35–10   5,331
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Upsets

This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating AP Poll-ranked teams during the season.

Regular season

During the regular season, 48 unranked FBS teams, plus 1 FCS team, defeated ranked FBS teams.

See also: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings § AP Poll

Bowl games

Rankings in this section are based on the final CFP rankings released on December 2021.

See also: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings § CFP Rankings

Conference standings

2021 American Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Cincinnati y$^   8 – 0     13 – 1  
No. 17 Houston y   8 – 0     12 – 2  
UCF   5 – 3     9 – 4  
East Carolina   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Tulsa   5 – 3     7 – 6  
SMU   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Memphis   3 – 5     6 – 6  
Navy   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Tulane   1 – 7     2 – 10  
South Florida   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Temple   1 – 7     3 – 9  
Championship: Cincinnati 35, Houston 20
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Atlantic Division
No. 15 Wake Forest xy   7 – 1     11 – 3  
No. 20 NC State   6 – 2     9 – 3  
No. 14 Clemson   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Louisville   4 – 4     6 – 7  
Florida State   4 – 4     5 – 7  
Syracuse   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Boston College   2 – 6     6 – 6  
Coastal Division
No. 13 Pittsburgh xy$   7 – 1     11 – 3  
Miami (FL)   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Virginia   4 – 4     6 – 6  
Virginia Tech   4 – 4     6 – 7  
North Carolina   3 – 5     6 – 7  
Georgia Tech   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Duke   0 – 8     3 – 9  
Championship: Pittsburgh 45, Wake Forest 21
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 7 Oklahoma State y   8 – 1     12 – 2  
No. 5 Baylor y$   7 – 2     12 – 2  
No. 10 Oklahoma   7 – 2     11 – 2  
Iowa State   5 – 4     7 – 6  
Kansas State   4 – 5     8 – 5  
West Virginia   4 – 5     6 – 7  
Texas   3 – 6     5 – 7  
TCU   3 – 6     5 – 7  
Texas Tech   3 – 6     7 – 6  
Kansas   1 – 8     2 – 10  
Championship: Baylor 21, Oklahoma State 16
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 3 Michigan xy$^   8 – 1     12 – 2  
No. 6 Ohio State x   8 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 9 Michigan State   7 – 2     11 – 2  
Penn State   4 – 5     7 – 6  
Maryland   3 – 6     7 – 6  
Rutgers   2 – 7     5 – 8  
Indiana   0 – 9     2 – 10  
West Division
No. 23 Iowa xy   7 – 2     10 – 4  
Minnesota   6 – 3     9 – 4  
Wisconsin   6 – 3     9 – 4  
Purdue   6 – 3     9 – 4  
Illinois   4 – 5     5 – 7  
Nebraska   1 – 8     3 – 9  
Northwestern   1 – 8     3 – 9  
Championship: Michigan 42, Iowa 3
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Conference USA football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Western Kentucky xy   7 – 1     9 – 5  
Marshall   5 – 3     7 – 6  
Old Dominion   5 – 3     6 – 7  
Middle Tennessee   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Florida Atlantic   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Charlotte   3 – 5     5 – 7  
FIU   0 – 8     1 – 11  
West Division
UTSA xy$   7 – 1     12 – 2  
UAB   6 – 2     9 – 4  
North Texas   5 – 3     6 – 7  
UTEP   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Rice   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Southern Miss   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Louisiana Tech   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Championship: UTSA 49, Western Kentucky 41
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
2021 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Kent State xy   6 – 2     7 – 7  
Miami (OH)   5 – 3     7 – 6  
Ohio   3 – 5     3 – 9  
Bowling Green   2 – 6     4 – 8  
Buffalo   2 – 6     4 – 8  
Akron   1 – 7     2 – 10  
West Division
Northern Illinois xy$   6 – 2     9 – 5  
Central Michigan x   6 – 2     9 – 4  
Toledo   5 – 3     7 – 6  
Ball State   4 – 4     6 – 7  
Eastern Michigan   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Western Michigan   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Championship: Northern Illinois 41, Kent State 23
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
2021 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Mountain Division
No. 24 Utah State xy$   6 – 2     11 – 3  
Air Force x   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Boise State   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Wyoming   2 – 6     7 – 6  
Colorado State   2 – 6     3 – 9  
New Mexico   1 – 7     3 – 9  
West Division
No. 25 San Diego State xy   7 – 1     12 – 2  
Fresno State   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Nevada   5 – 3     8 – 5  
Hawaii   3 – 5     6 – 7  
San Jose State   3 – 5     5 – 7  
UNLV   2 – 6     2 – 10  
Championship: Utah State 46, San Diego State 13
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Pac-12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Division
No. 22 Oregon xy   7 – 2     10 – 4  
Washington State   6 – 3     7 – 6  
Oregon State   5 – 4     7 – 6  
California   4 – 5     5 – 7  
Washington   3 – 6     4 – 8  
Stanford   2 – 7     3 – 9  
South Division
No. 12 Utah xy$   8 – 1     10 – 4  
UCLA   6 – 3     8 – 4  
Arizona State†   0 – 3     0 – 5  
USC   3 – 6     4 – 8  
Colorado   3 – 6     4 – 8  
Arizona   1 – 8     1 – 11  
Championship: Utah 38, Oregon 10
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 1 Georgia x#^   8 – 0     14 – 1  
No. 18 Kentucky*   5 – 3     10 – 3  
Tennessee   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Missouri   3 – 5     6 – 7  
South Carolina   3 – 5     7 – 6  
Florida   2 – 6     6 – 7  
Vanderbilt   0 – 8     2 – 10  
Western Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^   7 – 1     13 – 2  
No. 11 Ole Miss   6 – 2     10 – 3  
No. 21 Arkansas   4 – 4     9 – 4  
Mississippi State   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Texas A&M   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Auburn   3 – 5     6 – 7  
LSU   3 – 5     6 – 7  
Championship: Alabama 41, Georgia 24
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * – Kentucky vacated all wins due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 Sun Belt Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Appalachian State xy   7 – 1     10 – 4  
Georgia State   6 – 2     8 – 5  
Coastal Carolina   6 – 2     11 – 2  
Troy   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Georgia Southern   2 – 6     3 – 9  
West Division
No. 16 Louisiana xy$   8 – 0     13 – 1  
Texas State   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Louisiana–Monroe   2 – 6     4 – 8  
South Alabama   2 – 6     5 – 7  
Arkansas State   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Championship: Louisiana 24, Appalachian State 16
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2021 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 8 Notre Dame   –     11 – 2  
No. 19 BYU   –     10 – 3  
Army   –     9 – 4  
Liberty   –     8 – 5  
New Mexico State   –     2 – 10  
UMass   –     1 – 11  
UConn   –     1 – 11  
Rankings from AP Poll

Rankings

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Pre-season polls

AP
Ranking Team
1 Alabama (47)
2 Oklahoma (6)
3 Clemson (6)
4 Ohio State (1)
5 Georgia (3)
6 Texas A&M
7 Iowa State
8 Cincinnati
9 Notre Dame
10 North Carolina
11 Oregon
12 Wisconsin
13 Florida
14 Miami (FL)
15 USC
16 LSU
17 Indiana
18 Iowa
19 Penn State
20 Washington
21 Texas
22 Coastal Carolina
23 Louisiana
24 Utah
25 Arizona State
USA Today Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Alabama (63)
2 Clemson
3 Oklahoma (2)
4 Ohio State
5 Georgia
6 Texas A&M
7 Notre Dame
8 Iowa State
9 North Carolina
10 Cincinnati
11 Florida
12 Oregon
13 LSU
14 USC
15 Wisconsin
16 Miami
17 Indiana
18 Iowa
19 Texas
20 Penn State
21 Washington
22 Oklahoma State
23 Louisiana
24 Coastal Carolina
25 Ole Miss

CFB Playoff final rankings

On December 5, 2021, the College Football Playoff selection committee will announce its final team rankings for the year.

Rank Team W–L Conference and standing Bowl game
1 Alabama 12–1 SEC Champion Cotton Bowl (CFP semifinal)
2 Michigan 12–1 Big Ten Champion Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal)
3 Georgia 12–1 SEC runner-up Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal)
4 Cincinnati 13–0 AAC Champion Cotton Bowl (CFP semifinal)
5 Notre Dame 11–1 FBS Independent Fiesta Bowl (NY6)
6 Ohio State 10–2 Big Ten East 2nd place Rose Bowl (NY6)
7 Baylor 11–2 Big 12 Champion Sugar Bowl (NY6)
8 Ole Miss 10–2 SEC West 2nd place Sugar Bowl (NY6)
9 Oklahoma State 11–2 Big 12 runner-up Fiesta Bowl (NY6)
10 Michigan State 10–2 Big Ten East 3rd place Peach Bowl (NY6)
11 Utah 10–3 Pac-12 Champion Rose Bowl (NY6)
12 Pittsburgh 11–2 ACC Champion Peach Bowl (NY6)
13 BYU 10–2 FBS Independent Independence Bowl
14 Oregon 10–3 Pac-12 runner-up Alamo Bowl
15 Iowa 10–3 Big Ten runner-up Citrus Bowl
16 Oklahoma 10–2 Big 12 3rd place Alamo Bowl
17 Wake Forest 10–3 ACC runner-up Gator Bowl
18 NC State 9–3 ACC Atlantic 2nd place Holiday Bowl
19 Clemson 9–3 ACC Atlantic 3rd place Cheez-It Bowl
20 Houston 11–2 AAC runner-up Birmingham Bowl
21 Arkansas 8–4 SEC West 3rd place Outback Bowl
22 Kentucky 9–3 SEC East 2nd place Citrus Bowl
23 Louisiana 12–1 Sun Belt champion New Orleans Bowl
24 San Diego State 10–3 Mountain West runner-up Frisco Bowl
25 Texas A&M 8–4 SEC West 5th place Gator Bowl


Conference summaries

Rankings in this section are based on CFP rankings released prior to the games.

Conference Championship game Overall Player of the Year/MVP Offensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Special Teams Player of the Year Coach of the Year
Date[40] Champion Score Runner-up
ACC Dec. 4 No 15. Pittsburgh (10−2) 45−21 No 16. Wake Forest (10−2) Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh[41] Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh[41] Jermaine Johnson II, DE, Florida State[41] Nick Sciba, PK, Wake Forest Dave Clawson, Wake Forest[42]
American Dec. 4 No. 4 Cincinnati (12–0) 35–20 No. 21 Houston (11–1) — Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati[43] Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati[43] Marcus Jones, KR/PR, Houston[43] Luke Fickell, Cincinnati[43]
Big Ten Dec. 4 No. 2 Michigan (12–1) 42–3 No. 13 Iowa (10−3) — C. J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State[44] Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan[44] Jake Moody, PK, Michigan;
Jordan Stout, P, Penn State; &
Charlie Jones, RS, Iowa[44][a] 		Mel Tucker, Michigan State (coaches & media)[44]
Big 12 Dec. 4 No. 9 Baylor (10–2) 21–16 No. 5 Oklahoma State (11–1) — Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State[45] Jalen Pitre, DB, Baylor[45] Trestan Ebner, KR/PR, Baylor[45] Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State[45]
C–USA Dec. 3 UTSA (11–1) 49–41 Western Kentucky (8–4)
MAC Dec. 4 Northern Illinois (8–4) 41–23 Kent State (7–5) Dustin Crum, QB, Kent State[46] Lew Nichols III, RB, Central Michigan[46] Ali Fayad, DE, Western Michigan[46] Kalil Pimpleton, PR, Central Michigan[46] Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois[46]
MW Dec. 4 Utah State (9–3) 46–13 No. 19 San Diego State (11–1) — Carson Strong, QB, Nevada[47] Cameron Thomas, DL, San Diego State[47] Matt Araiza, P/PK, San Diego State[47] Brady Hoke, San Diego State[47]
Pac-12 Dec. 3 No. 17 Utah (9–3) 38–10 No. 10 Oregon (10–2) —
SEC Dec. 4 No. 3 Alabama (11–1) 41–24 No. 1 Georgia (12–0) —
Sun Belt Dec. 4 No. 24 Louisiana (11–1) 24–16 Appalachian State (10–2) Grayson McCall, QB, Coastal Carolina[48] Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama[48] D'Marco Jackson, LB, Appalachian State[48] Calum Sutherland, PK, Louisiana-Monroe Billy Napier, Louisiana[48]
  1. ^ The Big Ten presents separate awards for its top placekicker, punter, and return specialist.

Conference champions' bowl games

Ranks are per the final CFP rankings, released on December 5, with win–loss records at that time.

Conference Champion W–L Rank Bowl game
ACC Pittsburgh 11-2 12 Peach Bowl (NY6)
American Cincinnati CFP 13-0 4 Cotton Bowl (semifinal)
Big Ten Michigan CFP 12-1 2 Orange Bowl (semifinal)
Big 12 Baylor 11-2 7 Sugar Bowl (NY6)
C-USA UTSA 12-1 Frisco Bowl
MAC Northern Illinois 9-4 Cure Bowl
Mountain West Utah State 10-3 LA Bowl
Pac-12 Utah 10-3 11 Rose Bowl (NY6)
SEC Alabama CFP 12-1 1 Cotton Bowl (semifinal)
Sun Belt Louisiana 12-1 23 New Orleans Bowl

CFP College Football Playoff participant

Postseason

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA football bowl games

There are 42 team-competitive FBS post-season bowl games, with two teams advancing to a 43rd – 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 (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 all 84 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.

Bowl-eligible teams

Number of bowl berths available: 84
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 84

Bowl-eligible team that did not receive a berth

On December 2, NCAA announced the 42nd bowl game, thus guaranteed all teams with 6 wins (83 bowl-eligible teams plus Hawaii with a 6-7 record) will play in a bowl game.[49]

Bowl-ineligible teams

Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 46

College Football Playoff

Semifinals Championship
December 31 – Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
  1   Alabama 27  
  4   Cincinnati 6   January 10 – National Championship
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
 
      1   Alabama 18
December 31 – Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens 		    3   Georgia 33
 
  2   Michigan 11
  3   Georgia 34  
This bracket:


Conference performance in bowl games

Conference Total games Wins Losses Pct.
SEC –
Independents –
Sun Belt –
The American –
MW –
Pac-12 –
Big Ten –
MAC –
ACC –
C-USA –
Big 12 –

All-star games

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.

Other overall

Special overall

Offense

Quarterback

Running back

Wide receiver

Tight end

Lineman:

Defense

Defensive front

Defensive back

Special teams

Coaches

Assistants

All-Americans

Main article: 2021 College Football All-America Team

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2021, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game but before its bowl game. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2021, see 2020 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement
Ohio Frank Solich July 14, 2021 Retired[50] Tim Albin
UConn Randy Edsall September 6, 2021 Resigned[51] Lou Spanos (interim)
USC Clay Helton September 13, 2021 Fired[52] Donte Williams (interim)
Georgia Southern Chad Lunsford September 26, 2021 Fired[53] Kevin Whitley (interim)
Washington State Nick Rolovich October 18, 2021 Fired[54] Jake Dickert
Texas Tech Matt Wells October 25, 2021 Fired[55] Sonny Cumbie (interim)
TCU Gary Patterson October 31, 2021 Parted ways[56] Jerry Kill (interim)
Akron Tom Arth November 4, 2021 Fired[57] Oscar Rodriguez (interim)
UMass Walt Bell November 7, 2021 Fired[58] Alex Miller (interim)
Washington Jimmy Lake November 14, 2021 Fired Bob Gregory (interim)
Virginia Tech Justin Fuente November 16, 2021 Parted ways[59] J. C. Price (interim)
Florida Dan Mullen November 21, 2021 Fired[60] Greg Knox (interim)
Troy Chip Lindsey November 21, 2021 Fired[61] Brandon Hall (interim)
Oklahoma Lincoln Riley November 28, 2021 Hired by USC Bob Stoops (interim; bowl)
LSU Ed Orgeron November 28, 2021 Parted ways Brad Davis (interim; bowl)
Notre Dame Brian Kelly November 29, 2021 Hired by LSU Marcus Freeman
Fresno State Kalen DeBoer November 29, 2021 Hired by Washington Lee Marks (interim; bowl)
Louisiana Billy Napier December 5, 2021 Hired by Florida Michael Desormeaux

End of season

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

School Outgoing coach Date Reason Replacement
Georgia Southern Kevin Whitley (Interim) November 2, 2021 Permanent Replacement Clay Helton
Texas Tech Sonny Cumbie (Interim) November 8, 2021 Permanent Replacement Joey McGuire
FIU Butch Davis November 10, 2021 Will not return after the 2021 season
UConn Lou Spanos (Interim) November 11, 2021 Permanent Replacement Jim Mora
UMass Alex Miller (Interim) November 21, 2021 Permanent Replacement Don Brown
Louisiana Tech Skip Holtz November 26, 2021 Fired[62] Sonny Cumbie
TCU Jerry Kill (Interim) November 26, 2021 Permanent Replacement Sonny Dykes
SMU Sonny Dykes November 26, 2021 Hired by TCU Rhett Lashlee
New Mexico State Doug Martin November 27, 2021 Fired Jerry Kill
Duke David Cutcliffe November 28, 2021 Parted Ways
Florida Greg Knox (Interim) November 28, 2021 Permanent Replacement Billy Napier
USC Donte Williams (interim) November 28, 2021 Permanent Replacement Lincoln Riley
Temple Rod Carey November 29, 2021 Fired
LSU Brad Davis (Interim) November 29, 2021 Permanent Replacement Brian Kelly
Washington Bob Gregory (Interim) November 29, 2021 Permanent Replacement Kalen DeBoer
Virginia Tech J.C. Price (Interim) November 30, 2021 Permanent Replacement Brent Pry
Colorado State Steve Addazio December 2, 2021 Fired
Virginia Bronco Mendenhall December 2, 2021 Resigned
Troy Brandon Hall (Interim) December 2, 2021 Permanent Replacement Jon Sumrall
Akron Oscar Rodriguez (Interim) December 4, 2021 Permanent Replacement Joe Moorhead
Oklahoma Bob Stoops (interim; bowl) December 5, 2021 Permanent Replacement Brent Venables

Television viewers and ratings

Most watched regular season games

All times Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Poll (before 11/2) and CFP Rankings (thereafter).

Rank Date Time Matchup Network Viewers (millions) TV ratings[63] Significance
1 November 27 12:00 p.m. No. 2 Ohio State 27 No. 5 Michigan 42 FOX 15.89 8.1 College GameDay/Big Noon Kickoff/Rivalry
2 November 27 3:30 p.m. No. 3 Alabama 24 Auburn 22 CBS 10.37 5.3 Rivalry
3 October 30 12:00 p.m. No. 6 Michigan 33 No. 8 Michigan State 37 FOX 9.29 5.1 College GameDay/Big Noon Kickoff/Rivalry
4 September 4 7:30 p.m. No. 5 Georgia 10 No. 3 Clemson 3 ABC 8.86 [64] 4.6 College GameDay/Rivalry
5 October 9 8:00 p.m. No. 1 Alabama 38 Texas A&M 41 CBS 8.33 4.5
6 September 18 3:30 p.m. No. 1 Alabama 31 No. 11 Florida 29 CBS 7.86 4.2 Rivalry
7 September 5 7:30 p.m. No. 9 Notre Dame 41 Florida State 38 ABC 7.75[65] 4.2
8 September 11 12:00 p.m. No. 12 Oregon 35 No. 3 Ohio State 28 FOX 7.73 4.3 Big Noon Kickoff
9 September 18 7:30 p.m. No. 22 Auburn 20 No. 10 Penn State 28 ABC 7.61 4.1 College GameDay
10 October 30 7:30 p.m. No. 20 Penn State 24 No. 5 Ohio State 33 ABC 7.05 3.7 Rivalry

Conference championship games

All times Eastern.

Rank Date Time Matchup Network Viewers (millions) TV ratings Conference Location
December 3 7:00 p.m. Western Kentucky 41 UTSA 49 CBSSN C-USA Alamodome
December 3 8:00 p.m. No. 10 Oregon 10 No. 17 Utah 38 ABC Pac-12 Allegiant Stadium
December 4 12:00 p.m. No. 9 Baylor 21 No. 5 Oklahoma State 16 ABC Big 12 AT&T Stadium
December 4 12:00 p.m. Kent State 23 Northern Illinois 41 ESPN Mid-American Ford Field
December 4 3:00 p.m. Utah State 46 No. 19 San Diego State 13 Fox MWC Dignity Health Sports Park
December 4 3:30 p.m. Appalachian State 16 No. 24 Louisiana 24 ESPN Sun Belt Cajun Field
December 4 4:00 p.m. No. 1 Georgia 24 No. 3 Alabama 41 CBS SEC Mercedes-Benz Stadium
December 4 4:00 p.m. No. 21 Houston 20 No. 4 Cincinnati 35 ABC AAC Nippert Stadium
December 4 8:00 p.m. No. 2 Michigan 42 No. 13 Iowa 3 Fox Big Ten Lucas Oil Stadium
December 4 8:00 p.m. No. 15 Pittsburgh 45 No. 16 Wake Forest 21 ABC ACC Bank of America Stadium

Rankings are from the CFP Rankings.

Most watched non-CFP bowl games

Rank Date Time Matchup Network Game Viewers (millions) TV Ratings Conference Location

New Year Six games

Game Date Time Matchup Network Viewers (millions) TV Ratings Location
Peach Bowl December 30, 2021 7:00 pm No. 10 Michigan State No. 12 Pittsburgh ESPN Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2022 1:00 pm No. 5 Notre Dame No. 9 Oklahoma State ESPN State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Rose Bowl January 1, 2022 5:00 pm No. 6 Ohio State No. 11 Utah ESPN Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Sugar Bowl January 1, 2022 8:45 p.m. No. 7 Baylor No. 8 Ole Miss ESPN Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA

College Football Playoff

Game Date Time Matchup Network Viewers (millions) TV Ratings Location
Cotton Bowl (semifinal) December 31, 2021 3:30 p.m. No. 1 Alabama No. 4 Cincinnati ESPN AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Orange Bowl (semifinal) December 31, 2021 7:30 p.m. No. 2 Michigan No. 3 Georgia ESPN Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
National Championship January 10, 2022 8:00 p.m. Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Notes

See also

References

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