2017 NCAA Division I FBS season | |
---|---|
Number of teams | 130 |
Duration | August 26, 2017 – December 9, 2017 |
Preseason AP No. 1 | Alabama |
Post-season | |
Duration | December 16, 2017 – January 8, 2018 |
Bowl games | 40 |
AP Poll No. 1 | Alabama[1] |
Coaches Poll No. 1 | Alabama[2] |
Heisman Trophy | Baker Mayfield (quarterback, Oklahoma) |
College Football Playoff | |
College Football Playoff National Championship | |
Site | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia |
Champion(s) | Alabama |
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons | |
← 2016 2018 → |
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).[3] 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.
The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2017 season:[4]
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:
School | Former conference | New conference |
---|---|---|
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | FCS independent | Sun Belt |
UAB Blazers | No team | Conference USA |
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.
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.
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:
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:[11]
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:
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.
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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.[18] 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.
Conference | Champion | Runner-up | Score | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ACC | No. 1 Clemson CFP | No. 7 Miami | 38–3 | Lamar Jackson, Louisville[19] | Bradley Chubb, NC State[19] | Mark Richt, Miami[20] |
Big 12 | No. 2 Oklahoma CFP | No. 10 TCU | 41–17 | Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma[21] | Ogbo Okoronkwo, Oklahoma & Malik Jefferson, Texas[21] |
Matt Campbell, Iowa State[21] |
Big Ten | No. 8 Ohio State | No. 3 Wisconsin | 27–21 | Saquon Barkley, Penn State[22] | Josey Jewell, Iowa[22] | Paul Chryst, Wisconsin[22] |
Pac-12 | No. 11 USC | No. 14 Stanford | 31–28 | Bryce Love, Stanford[23] | Vita Vea, Washington[23] | David Shaw, Stanford[23] |
SEC | No. 6 Georgia CFP | No. 4 Auburn | 28–7 | Kerryon Johnson, Auburn[24] | Roquan Smith, Georgia[24] | Kirby Smart, Georgia[24] |
Conference | Champion | Runner Up | Score | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AAC | No. 12 UCF | No. 16 Memphis | 62–552OT | McKenzie Milton, UCF[25] | Ed Oliver, Houston[25] | Scott Frost, UCF[25] |
C-USA | Florida Atlantic | North Texas | 41–17 | Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic (MVP) & Mason Fine, North Texas (Offensive POY)[26] |
Marcus Davenport, UTSA[26] | Bill Clark, UAB[27] |
MAC | Toledo | Akron | 45–28 | Logan Woodside, Toledo[28] | Sutton Smith, Northern Illinois[28] | Jason Candle, Toledo[28] |
MW | Boise State | No. 25 Fresno State | 17–14 | Rashaad Penny, San Diego State[29] | Leighton Vander Esch, Boise State[29] | Jeff Tedford, Fresno State[29] |
Sun Belt | Appalachian State | N/A | N/A | Justice Hansen, Arkansas State[30] | Javon Rolland-Jones, Arkansas State (overall POY) Jeremy Reaves, South Alabama (Defensive POY)[30] |
Neal Brown, Troy[30] |
CFP College Football Playoff participant
Main article: 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games |
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.
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:
Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 49
* 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.
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.
Semifinals | Championship | |||||||
January 1 – Sugar BowlMercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans | ||||||||
1 | Clemson | 6 | ||||||
4 | Alabama | 24 | January 8 – ChampionshipMercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta | |||||
4 | Alabama (OT) | 26 | ||||||
January 1 – Rose BowlRose Bowl, Pasadena | 3 | Georgia | 23 | |||||
2 | Oklahoma | 48 | ||||||
3 | Georgia (2OT) | 54 |
Conference | Total games | Wins | Losses | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|
SEC | 11 | 5 | 6 | .455 |
ACC | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 |
Big Ten | 8 | 7 | 1 | .875 |
Pac-12 | 9 | 1 | 8 | .111 |
Big 12 | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 |
MW | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 |
The American | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571 |
C-USA | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 |
MAC | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 |
Independents | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
Sun Belt | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 |
Rank | Associated Press | Coaches' Poll |
---|---|---|
1 | Alabama | Alabama |
2 | Georgia | Georgia |
3 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
4 | Clemson | Clemson |
5 | Ohio State | Ohio State |
6 | UCF | Wisconsin |
7 | Wisconsin | UCF |
8 | Penn State | Penn State |
9 | TCU | TCU |
10 | Auburn | USC |
11 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
12 | USC | Auburn |
13 | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) |
14 | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State |
15 | Michigan State | Washington |
16 | Washington | Northwestern |
17 | Northwestern | Michigan State |
18 | LSU | LSU |
19 | Mississippi State | Stanford |
20 | Stanford | Mississippi State |
21 | USF | USF |
22 | Boise State | Boise State |
23 | NC State | NC State |
24 | Virginia Tech | Memphis |
25 | Memphis | Virginia Tech |
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.
Team | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma | Bob Stoops | June 7, 2017 | Retired | Lincoln Riley |
Ole Miss | Hugh Freeze | July 20, 2017 | Resigned | Matt Luke [a] |
Coastal Carolina | Joe Moglia | July 28, 2017 | Medical leave | Jamey Chadwell (interim) |
UTEP | Sean Kugler | October 1, 2017 | Resigned | Mike Price (interim) |
Oregon State | Gary Andersen | October 9, 2017 | Resigned | Cory Hall (interim) |
Georgia Southern | Tyson Summers | October 22, 2017 | Fired | Chad Lunsford [b] |
Florida | Jim McElwain | October 29, 2017 | Fired | Randy Shannon (interim) |
Tennessee | Butch Jones | November 12, 2017 | Fired | Brady Hoke (interim) |
UCLA | Jim Mora | November 19, 2017 | Fired | Jedd Fisch (interim) |
Florida State | Jimbo Fisher | December 1, 2017 | Hired by Texas A&M | Odell Haggins (interim) |
SMU | Chad Morris | December 5, 2017 | Hired by Arkansas | Jeff Traylor (interim) |
This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.
Team | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
---|---|---|---|---|
South Alabama | Joey Jones | November 20, 2017 | Resigned | Steve Campbell |
Kent State | Paul Haynes | November 22, 2017 | Fired | Colin Ferrell (Interim) |
Arkansas | Bret Bielema | November 24, 2017 | Fired | Chad Morris |
UCLA | Jedd Fisch (interim) | November 25, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Chip Kelly |
Nebraska | Mike Riley | November 25, 2017 | Fired | Scott Frost |
Arizona State | Todd Graham | November 26, 2017 | Agreed to part ways | Herm Edwards |
Florida | Randy Shannon (interim) | November 26, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Dan Mullen |
Mississippi State | Dan Mullen | November 26, 2017 | Hired by Florida | Joe Moorhead |
Rice | David Bailiff | November 27, 2017 | Fired | Mike Bloomgren |
Texas A&M | Kevin Sumlin | November 27, 2017 | Fired | Jimbo Fisher |
Oregon State | Cory Hall (interim) | November 30, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Jonathan Smith |
UCF | Scott Frost | December 2, 2017 | Hired by Nebraska | Josh Heupel |
Louisiana | Mark Hudspeth | December 2, 2017 | Fired | Billy Napier |
Florida State | Odell Haggins (interim) | December 5, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Willie Taggart |
Oregon | Willie Taggart | December 5, 2017 | Hired by Florida State | Mario Cristobal [a] |
Arkansas | Paul Rhoads (Interim) | December 6, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Chad Morris |
UTEP | Mike Price | December 6, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Dana Dimel |
Tennessee | Brady Hoke (interim) | December 7, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Jeremy Pruitt |
SMU | Jeff Traylor (interim) | December 12, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Sonny Dykes |
Kent State | Colin Ferrell (interim) | December 21, 2017 | Permanent replacement | Sean Lewis |
Arizona | Rich Rodriguez | January 2, 2018 | Fired | Kevin Sumlin |
Coastal Carolina | Jamey Chadwell (interim) | January 5, 2018 | Medical clearance of head coach | Joe Moglia |
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.
Quarterback
Running back
Wide receiver
Tight end
Lineman
Defensive line
Defensive back
Main article: 2017 College Football All-America Team |
All times Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Poll before (10/31) and the CFP Rankings thereafter.
Rank | Date | Matchup | Network | Viewers (millions) | TV Rating[32] | Significance | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | November 25, 3:30pm | No. 1 Alabama | 14 | No. 6 Auburn | 26 | CBS | 13.66 | 7.6 | College GameDay/Rivalry |
2 | September 2, 8:00pm | No. 3 Florida State | 7 | No. 1 Alabama | 24 | ABC | 12.34 | 6.9 | Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game/College GameDay |
3 | November 25, 12:00pm | Michigan | 20 | No. 9 Ohio State | 31 | FOX | 10.51 | 6.1 | Rivalry |
4 | October 28, 3:30pm | No. 2 Penn State | 38 | No. 6 Ohio State | 39 | 9.87 | 5.8 | College GameDay/Rivalry | |
5 | December 9, 3:00pm | Army | 14 | Navy | 13 | CBS | 8.42 | 5.2 | College GameDay/Rivalry |
6 | September 9, 7:30pm | No. 5 Oklahoma | 31 | No. 2 Ohio State | 16 | ABC | 8.08 | 4.6 | College GameDay |
7 | September 2, 3:30pm | No. 11 Michigan | 33 | No. 17 Florida | 17 | 7.65 | 4.9 | Advocare Classic | |
8 | November 11, 3:30pm | No. 1 Georgia | 17 | No. 10 Auburn | 40 | CBS | 7.41 | 4.4 | Rivalry |
9 | November 11, 7:00pm | No. 2 Alabama | 31 | No. 16 Mississippi State | 24 | ESPN | 7.03 | 3.9 | Rivalry |
10 | October 21, 7:30pm | No. 19 Michigan | 13 | No. 2 Penn State | 42 | ABC | 6.95 | 3.9 | College GameDay |
All times Eastern. Rankings are from the CFP Rankings.
Rank | Date | Matchup | Network | Viewers (millions) | TV Rating[33] | Conference | Location | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | December 2, 4:00pm | No. 6 Georgia (East) | 28 | No. 2 Auburn (West) | 7 | CBS | 13.47 | 8.0 | SEC | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA |
2 | December 2, 8:00pm | No. 8 Ohio State (East) | 27 | No. 4 Wisconsin (West) | 21 | FOX | 12.92 | 7.3 | Big Ten | Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN |
3 | December 2, 12:30pm | No. 11 TCU (No. 2 seed) | 17 | No. 3 Oklahoma (No. 1 seed) | 41 | 5.90 | 3.8 | Big 12 | AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX | |
4 | December 2, 8:00pm | No. 7 Miami (Coastal) | 3 | No. 1 Clemson (Atlantic) | 38 | ABC | 5.43 | 3.2 | ACC | Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC |
5 | December 1, 8:00pm | No. 12 Stanford (North) | 28 | No. 10 USC (South) | 31 | ESPN | 3.66 | 2.3 | Pac-12 | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA |
6 | December 2, 12:00pm | No. 20 Memphis (West) | 55 | No. 14 UCF (East) | 62 | ABC | 3.39 | 2.3 | AAC | Spectrum Stadium, Orlando, FL |
7 | December 2, 12:00pm | Akron (East) | 28 | Toledo (West) | 45 | ESPN | 0.65 | 0.5 | MAC | Ford Field, Detroit, MI |
8 | December 2, 7:45pm | No. 25 Fresno State (West) | 14 | Boise State (Mountain) | 17 | 0.62 | 0.4 | MW | Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID | |
9 | December 2, 12:00pm | North Texas (West) | 17 | Florida Atlantic (East) | 41 | ESPN2 | 0.26 | n.a. | C-USA | FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL |
All times Eastern. Rankings are from the CFP Rankings.
Game | Date | Matchup | Network | Viewers (millions) | TV Rating[34] | Location | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rose Bowl (semifinal) | January 1, 2018, 5:00pm | No. 3 Georgia | 54 | No. 2 Oklahoma | 48 | ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU (megacast) | 26.91 | 13.7 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA |
Sugar Bowl (semifinal) | January 1, 2018, 8:45pm | No. 4 Alabama | 24 | No. 1 Clemson | 6 | 21.47 | 11.4 | Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA | |
National Championship | January 8, 2018, 8:00pm | No. 4 Alabama | 26 | No. 3 Georgia | 23 | 28.44 | 15.6 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA |