2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season

For the 2023 FCS season, see 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2023 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams	133
Duration	August 26, 2023 – December 9, 2023
Preseason AP No. 1	Georgia
Post-season
Duration	December 15, 2023 – January 8, 2024
Bowl games	43
College Football Playoff
2024 College Football Playoff National Championship
Site	NRG Stadium Houston, Texas
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2022

The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season is the 154th 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 (FBS). The regular season began on August 26 and will end on December 9. The postseason will begin on December 15, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, end on January 8, 2024, with the College Football Playoff National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. This will be the tenth and final season of using the four team College Football Playoff (CFP) system, with the bracket being expanded to 12 teams for the 2024 season.

Rule changes

The following rules changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee for the 2023 season:

• Mirroring the NFL rule adopted in the 2005 NFL season, teams may not call consecutive timeouts during a single dead ball period.
• Accepted penalties committed on the last play of the first or third quarter will no longer result in an untimed down before the period ends. The penalty enforcement will be marked off and the second or fourth quarter will begin with the ball at the new spot. This modifies the rule adopted in the 1983 season.
• Modifying a rule adopted in the 1968 season, the game clock will no longer be stopped for first downs on offense except inside of the final two minutes of each half. This is similar to a rule used in the current incarnations of the USFL and XFL. The NFL does not stop the game clock for first downs at any time in the game. This rule was adopted for all NCAA Football divisions except Division III, they will still use the previous rule of clock stoppages on first down for the entire game.
• When there is not a replay official in the booth, the on-field officials will have optional replay available in the event of a coaches' challenge. This rule was trialed in the Division II Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in its 2022 conference season.
• Establishing guidelines for second-half warmup activities, including requiring teams to wait until the field is made available to return and having designated areas of the field to warm up.
• When teams are on the field, drones are not allowed over the playing surface or the team area.
• If a player receives a third targeting penalty in the same season (which requires a one-game suspension) and the penalty is overturned by the National Coordinator of Officials upon appeal, the suspension will be vacated.
• The area where "roughing/running into the kicker" protection ends was expanded to include when the kicker retreats more than five yards behind the spot the kicker was initially lined up to receive the snap. Previously the protection ended only when the kicker ran outside the tackle box before kicking the ball.

Points of Emphasis for the 2023 season include:

• Continued emphasis on targeting, sideline control, concussions, feigning injuries and acts of taunting.
• Pre-snap actions by the offense designed to cause the defense to jump into the neutral zone (abrupt, quick, or jerky motions by the quarterback) and disconcerting signals by the defense designed to cause a false start or snap issues on offense (simulating cadence and other sounds or motions similar to the offense's snap signals, including the use of the "clap" on defense designed to be similar to the offense).
• Rules regarding illegal hits to the quarterback/passer will be more strictly enforced.

Other headlines

• August 15 – Fresno State announced that the Bulldogs' home opener against Eastern Washington on September 9 would be the first-ever FBS game to be broadcast over linear television exclusively in Spanish. The city of Fresno is roughly 60% Hispanic, and the majority of Fresno State's enrollment is Hispanic. The game would be broadcast on UniMás in the Fresno and Bakersfield markets. English-language coverage was exclusively via streaming, with audio by Fresno State's radio broadcast team.
• August 29 – Arizona State announced a self imposed bowl ban for the 2023 season. The ban stems from allegations that Arizona State hosted high school recruits during the COVID-19 dead period. The case is still on-going with the NCAA.
• October 4 – The NCAA announced several major changes to Division I football recruiting and governance rules:
  • The window for athletes to enter the transfer portal was reduced. For FBS players, the portal now opens on the Monday after conference championship games are played and stays open for 30 days. For players participating in the postseason (i.e., bowl games, including the College Football Playoff), there will be an additional 5-day window after the players' final game.
  • The limit on "initial counters"—i.e., players who are receiving athletically-related financial aid for the first time—has been permanently eliminated. The previous limit of 25 had been suspended due to COVID-19 impacts.
  • Football attendance requirements for FBS membership were eliminated, effective immediately.
  • The application fee for transitioning from FCS to FBS increased from $5,000 to $5 million, effective immediately.
  • Starting with the 2027–28 school year, FBS members must fund the equivalent of 210 full scholarships across all sports, and spend at least $6 million annually on such aid.
  • Also starting in 2027–28, FBS members must provide at least 90% of the total number of allowed scholarships across 16 sports, including football. Schools that start FBS transitions in 2024–25 or later must meet both of the aforementioned limits by the end of their two-year transition.

Conference realignment

Main article: 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment

2 schools are playing their first FBS seasons in 2023. Sam Houston (from the Western Athletic Conference) and Jacksonville State (from the ASUN Conference) began transitions from Division I FCS in 2022 and joined Conference USA in July 2023.

2 other Independent schools, Liberty and New Mexico State, joined Conference USA in 2023; those schools had respectively been full members of the ASUN and WAC.

6 schools from Conference USA joined the American Athletic Conference for the 2023 season—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. This followed three schools from The American, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, leaving the conference for the Big 12 Conference in 2023. In addition, BYU, previously an FBS independent and otherwise a member of the non-football West Coast Conference, joined the Big 12.

Team	Conference in 2022	Conference in 2023
BYU	Independent (FBS)	Big 12
Charlotte	C-USA	American
Cincinnati	American	Big 12
Florida Atlantic	C-USA	American
Houston	American	Big 12
Jacksonville State	ASUN (FCS)	C-USA
Liberty	Independent (FBS)	C-USA
New Mexico State	Independent (FBS)	C-USA
North Texas	C-USA	American
Rice	C-USA	American
Sam Houston	WAC (FCS)	C-USA
UAB	C-USA	American
UCF	American	Big 12
UTSA	C-USA	American

The 2023 season is expected to be the last for 14 FBS teams in their current conferences and 1 FCS team joining FBS:

School	Current conference	Future conference
Arizona	Pac-12	Big 12
Arizona State	Pac-12	Big 12
Army	Independent (FBS)	American
California	Pac-12	ACC
Colorado	Pac-12	Big 12
Kennesaw State	Independent (FCS)	C-USA
Oklahoma	Big 12	SEC
Oregon	Pac-12	Big Ten
SMU	American	ACC
Stanford	Pac-12	ACC
Texas	Big 12	SEC
UCLA	Pac-12	Big Ten
USC	Pac-12	Big Ten
Utah	Pac-12	Big 12
Washington	Pac-12	Big Ten

In addition to Sam Houston and Jacksonville State, 1 other FCS school will start a transition to FBS in the 2023 season.

• Kennesaw State will leave the ASUN Conference for C-USA. It will play the 2023 season as an FCS independent, while remaining in the ASUN for other sports, before joining C-USA in 2024.

Stadiums

• Arizona State announced a 15 year naming rights agreement to change the name of their stadium to Mountain America Stadium.
• North Texas announced a naming rights agreement with the Denton Area Teachers Credit Union to change the name of their stadium to DATCU Stadium.

Kickoff games

Rankings reflect the AP Poll entering each week.

"Week 0"

The regular season began on Saturday, August 26 with seven games in Week 0.

• Aer Lingus College Football Classic (Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland): No. 13 Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
• Jacksonville State 17, UTEP 14
• Louisiana Tech 22, FIU 17
• San Diego State 20, Ohio 13
• No. 6 USC 56, San Jose State 28
• UMass 41, New Mexico State 30
• Vanderbilt 35, Hawaii 28

Week 1

• Aflac Kickoff Game:
  • Louisville 39, Georgia Tech 34 (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA)
• Duke's Mayo Classic:
  • No. 21 North Carolina 31, South Carolina 17 (at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC)
• Camping World Kickoff:
  • No. 8 Florida State 45, No. 5 LSU 24 (at Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)

Week 2

• Allstate Crossbar Classic:
  • No. 11 Texas 34, No. 3 Alabama 24 (at Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL)

Top 10 matchups

Rankings through Week 9 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.

Regular season

• Week 1
  • No. 8 Florida State defeated No. 5 LSU 45–24 (Camping World Kickoff, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL)
• Week 4
  • No. 6 Ohio State defeated No. 9 Notre Dame 17–14 (Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN)
• Week 7
  • No. 7 Washington defeated No. 8 Oregon 36–33 (Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA)
• Week 8
  • No. 3 Ohio State defeated No. 7 Penn State 20–12 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH)

FCS team wins over FBS teams

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 9	3:30 p.m.	No. 24 (FCS) Southern Illinois	Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL	ESPN+	14–11	13,114
September 9	6:00 p.m.	(FCS) Fordham	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Amherst, NY	ESPN+	40–37	15,854
September 9	7:00 p.m.	No. 7 (FCS) Idaho	Nevada	Mackay Stadium • Reno, NV	MWN	33–6	19,852
September 16	5:00 p.m.	No. 8 (FCS) Sacramento State	Stanford	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	P12N	30–23	23,848
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Upsets

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

See also: 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings § AP Poll

Regular season

• September 2, 2023
  • Colorado 45, No. 17 TCU 42
• September 4, 2023
  • Duke 28, No. 9 Clemson 7
• September 9, 2023
  • Washington State 31, No. 19 Wisconsin 22
  • Miami (FL) 48, No. 23 Texas A&M 33
• September 16, 2023
  • Florida 29, No. 11 Tennessee 16
  • Missouri 30, No. 15 Kansas State 27
• September 30, 2023
  • Kentucky 33, No. 22 Florida 14
• October 7, 2023
  • UCLA 25, No. 13 Washington State 17
  • Georgia Tech 23, No. 17 Miami (FL) 20
  • Wyoming 24, No. 24 Fresno State 19
• October 14, 2023
  • Pittsburgh 38, No. 14 Louisville 21
  • Arizona 44, No. 19 Washington State 6
  • Oklahoma State 39, No. 23 Kansas 32
  • Missouri 38, No. 24 Kentucky 21
• October 21, 2023
  • Virginia 31, No. 10 North Carolina 27
  • Minnesota 12, No. 24 Iowa 10

Conference standings

2023 American Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 22 Tulane   3 – 0     6 – 1   SMU   3 – 0     5 – 2   UTSA   3 – 0     4 – 3   Memphis   2 – 1     5 – 2   Rice   2 – 1     4 – 3   Florida Atlantic   2 – 1     3 – 4   South Florida   2 – 2     4 – 4   Navy   2 – 2     3 – 4   North Texas   1 – 2     3 – 4   Tulsa   1 – 2     3 – 4   Charlotte   1 – 2     2 – 5   UAB   1 – 3     2 – 6   East Carolina   0 – 3     1 – 6   Temple   0 – 4     2 – 6   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 Florida State   5 – 0     7 – 0   No. 18 Louisville   3 – 1     6 – 1   No. 17 North Carolina   3 – 1     6 – 1   Virginia Tech   3 – 1     4 – 4   No. 20 Duke   2 – 1     5 – 2   Boston College   2 – 2     4 – 3   Georgia Tech   2 – 2     3 – 4   Clemson   2 – 3     4 – 3   NC State   1 – 2     4 – 3   Miami (FL)   1 – 2     5 – 2   Virginia   1 – 2     2 – 5   Wake Forest   1 – 3     4 – 3   Pittsburgh   1 – 3     2 – 5   Syracuse   0 – 4     4 – 4   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Big Ten Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 2 Michigan   5 – 0     8 – 0   No. 3 Ohio State   4 – 0     7 – 0   No. 10 Penn State   3 – 1     6 – 1   Rutgers   3 – 2     6 – 2   Maryland   2 – 2     5 – 2   Indiana   0 – 4     2 – 5   Michigan State   0 – 4     2 – 5   West Division Wisconsin   3 – 1     5 – 2   Iowa   3 – 2     6 – 2   Minnesota   2 – 2     4 – 3   Nebraska   2 – 2     4 – 3   Northwestern   1 – 3     3 – 4   Purdue   1 – 3     2 – 5   Illinois   1 – 4     3 – 5   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after October 31)
2023 Big 12 Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Oklahoma   4 – 0     7 – 0   No. 7 Texas   3 – 1     6 – 1   Kansas State   3 – 1     5 – 2   Oklahoma State   3 – 1     5 – 2   Iowa State   3 – 1     4 – 3   Kansas   2 – 2     5 – 2   BYU   2 – 2     5 – 2   West Virginia   2 – 2     4 – 3   Baylor   2 – 2     3 – 4   TCU   2 – 3     4 – 4   Texas Tech   2 – 3     3 – 5   Houston   1 – 3     3 – 4   UCF   0 – 4     3 – 4   Cincinnati   0 – 4     2 – 5   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Conference USA football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Liberty   6 – 0     8 – 0   Jacksonville State*   5 – 1     7 – 2   New Mexico State   4 – 1     6 – 3   Western Kentucky   2 – 2     4 – 4   Louisiana Tech   2 – 3     3 – 6   UTEP   2 – 3     3 – 6   Middle Tennessee   1 – 3     2 – 6   FIU   1 – 5     4 – 5   Sam Houston*   0 – 5     0 – 8   Championship: December 1, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Miami (OH)   3 – 1     6 – 2   Ohio   3 – 1     6 – 2   Buffalo   3 – 1     3 – 5   Bowling Green   2 – 2     4 – 4   Akron   0 – 4     1 – 7   Kent State   0 – 4     1 – 7   West Division Toledo   4 – 0     7 – 1   Northern Illinois   3 – 1     4 – 4   Central Michigan   2 – 2     4 – 4   Eastern Michigan   2 – 2     4 – 4   Western Michigan   1 – 3     2 – 6   Ball State   1 – 3     2 – 6   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll
2023 Mountain West Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 Air Force   4 – 0     7 – 0   UNLV   3 – 0     6 – 1   Wyoming   2 – 1     5 – 2   Fresno State   2 – 1     6 – 1   Boise State   2 – 1     3 – 4   San Jose State   2 – 2     3 – 5   Colorado State   1 – 2     3 – 4   New Mexico   1 – 2     3 – 4   Nevada   1 – 2     1 – 6   San Diego State   1 – 3     3 – 5   Utah State   1 – 3     3 – 5   Hawaii   0 – 3     2 – 6   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Pac-12 Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Washington   4 – 0     7 – 0   No. 24 USC   4 – 1     6 – 2   No. 8 Oregon   3 – 1     6 – 1   No. 11 Oregon State   3 – 1     6 – 1   No. 13 Utah   3 – 1     6 – 1   No. 23 UCLA   2 – 2     5 – 2   Arizona   2 – 2     4 – 3   Colorado   1 – 3     4 – 3   Washington State   1 – 3     4 – 3   California   1 – 3     3 – 4   Stanford   1 – 4     2 – 5   Arizona State*   0 – 4     1 – 6   Championship: December 1, 2023 $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed ban for 2020 recruiting violations As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 Southeastern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 1 Georgia   4 – 0     7 – 0   No. 16 Missouri   3 – 1     7 – 1   Florida   3 – 1     5 – 2   No. 21 Tennessee   2 – 2     5 – 2   Kentucky   2 – 2     5 – 2   South Carolina   1 – 4     2 – 5   Vanderbilt   0 – 4     2 – 6   West Division No. 9 Alabama   5 – 0     7 – 1   No. 15 LSU   4 – 1     6 – 2   No. 12 Ole Miss   3 – 1     6 – 1   Texas A&M   2 – 2     4 – 3   Mississippi State   1 – 3     4 – 3   Auburn   0 – 4     3 – 4   Arkansas   0 – 5     2 – 6   Championship: December 2, 2023 As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll
2023 Sun Belt Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division No. 25 James Madison*   4 – 0     7 – 0   Georgia Southern   3 – 1     6 – 2   Old Dominion   3 – 1     4 – 3   Georgia State   3 – 2     6 – 2   Coastal Carolina   2 – 2     4 – 3   Marshall   1 – 2     4 – 3   Appalachian State   1 – 2     3 – 4   West Division Texas State   2 – 1     5 – 2   Troy   2 – 1     5 – 2   South Alabama   2 – 1     4 – 3   Louisiana   1 – 2     4 – 3   Arkansas State   1 – 2     3 – 4   Louisiana–Monroe   0 – 4     2 – 5   Southern Miss   0 – 4     1 – 6   Championship: December 2, 2023 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll	2023 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Notre Dame   –     6 – 2   Army   –     2 – 5   UConn   –     1 – 6   UMass   –     1 – 7   As of October 27, 2023 Rankings from AP Poll

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

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

Pre-season polls

AP Ranking Team 1 Georgia (60) 2 Michigan (2) 3 Ohio State (1) 4 Alabama 5 LSU 6 USC 7 Penn State 8 Florida State 9 Clemson 10 Washington 11 Texas 12 Tennessee 13 Notre Dame 14 Utah 15 Oregon 16 Kansas State 17 TCU 18 Oregon State 19 Wisconsin 20 Oklahoma 21 North Carolina 22 Ole Miss 23 Texas A&M 24 Tulane 25 Iowa

USA Today Coaches Ranking Team 1 Georgia (61) 2 Michigan 3 Alabama (4) 4 Ohio State (1) 5 LSU 6 USC 7 Penn State 8 Florida State 9 Clemson 10 Tennessee 11 Washington 12 Texas 13 Notre Dame 14 Utah 15 Oregon 16 TCU 17 Kansas State 18 Oregon State 19 Oklahoma 20 North Carolina 21 Wisconsin 22 Ole Miss 23 Tulane 24 Texas Tech 25 Texas A&M

CFB Playoff final rankings

In December 2023, the College Football Playoff selection committee will announce its final team rankings for the year.

See also: 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings § CFP Rankings

Rank	Team	W–L	Conference and standing	Bowl game
1				(CFB playoff semifinal)
2				(CFB playoff semifinal)
3				(CFB playoff semifinal)
4				(CFB playoff semifinal)
5				(NY6)
6				(NY6)
7				(NY6)
8				(NY6)
9				(NY6)
10				(NY6)
11				(NY6)
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Final rankings

Rank	Associated Press	Coaches' Poll
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Postseason

Main article: 2023–24 NCAA football bowl games

There are 41 team-competitive FBS post-season bowl games, with two teams advancing to a 42nd – 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 82 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.

Conference summaries

Rankings in this section are based 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	Venue (Location)	Matchup	Result
AAC	Dec. 2, 2023	TBD	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)		—
ACC	Dec. 2, 2023	Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)					—
Big 12	Dec. 2, 2023	AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)		—
Big Ten	Dec. 2, 2023	Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN)	(East) vs. (West)		—
C–USA	Dec. 1 or 2, 2023	TBD	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)
MAC	Dec. 2, 2023	Ford Field (Detroit, MI)	(East) vs. (West)
MW	Dec. 2, 2023	TBD	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)		—
Pac-12	Dec. 1, 2023	Allegiant Stadium (Paradise, NV)	(No. 1 seed) vs (No. 2 seed)		—			—
SEC	Dec. 2, 2023	Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)	(East) vs (West)		—
Sun Belt	Dec. 2, 2023	TBD	(East) vs (West)					—

Conference champions' bowl games

Ranks are per the final CFP rankings, released on December 2023, with win–loss records at that time.

Conference	Champion	W–L	Rank	Bowl game
ACC
American
Big 12
Big Ten
C-USA
MAC
MW
Pac-12
SEC
Sun Belt

^CFP College Football Playoff participant

Bowl-eligible teams

• ACC (3): Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina
• AAC (1): Tulane
• Big 10 (5): Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
• Big 12 (2): Oklahoma, Texas
• C-USA (2): Liberty, New Mexico State
• MAC (3): Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo
• MW (3): Air Force, Fresno State, UNLV
• Pac-12 (5): Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Utah, Washington
• SEC (5): Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss
• Sun Belt (2): Georgia Southern, Georgia State
• Independent (1): Notre Dame

Number of bowl-eligible teams: 32

Bowl-ineligible teams

• ACC:
• AAC:
• Big 10:
• Big 12:
• C-USA (2): Jacksonville State, Sam Houston
• MAC (2): Akron, Kent State
• MW:
• Pac-12 (1): Arizona State
• SEC:
• Sun Belt (1): James Madison
• Independent (1): UMass

Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 7

Conference performance in bowl games

Conference	Total games	Wins-Losses ( Pct.)
SEC	0	0–0 (–)
ACC	0	0–0 (–)
Big-10	0	0–0 (–)
Big 12	0	0–0 (–)
AAC	0	0–0 (–)
MW	0	0–0 (–)
Sun Belt	0	0–0 (–)
Pac-12	0	0–0 (–)
C-USA	0	0–0 (–)
MAC	0	0–0 (–)
Ind	0	0–0 (–)

All-star games

Each of these games features college seniors, or players whose college football eligibility is ending, who are individually invited by game organizers. These games are scheduled to follow the team-competitive bowls, to allow players selected from bowl teams to participate. The all-star games may include some players from non-FBS programs.

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

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

Other overall

• AP Player of the Year:
• Lombardi Award (top player):
• Maxwell Award (top player):
• SN Player of the Year:
• Walter Camp Award (top player):

Special overall

• Burlsworth Trophy (top player who began as walk-on):
• Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player):
• Jon Cornish Trophy (top Canadian player):
• Campbell Trophy ("academic Heisman"):
• Academic All-American of the Year:
• Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete):
• Senior CLASS Award: Senior CLASS Awards are on hiatus until the awards get a new corporate sponsor.

Offense

Quarterback

• Davey O'Brien Award:
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (senior/4th year quarterback):
• Manning Award:

Running back

• Doak Walker Award:

Wide receiver

• Fred Biletnikoff Award:

Tight end

• John Mackey Award:

Lineman:

• Rimington Trophy (center):
• Outland Trophy (interior lineman on either offense or defense):
• Joe Moore Award (offensive line):

Defense

• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player):
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player):
• Lott Trophy (defensive impact):

Defensive front

• Dick Butkus Award (linebacker):
• Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end):

Defensive back

• Jim Thorpe Award:

Special teams

• Lou Groza Award (placekicker):
• Ray Guy Award (punter):
• Jet Award (return specialist):
• Patrick Mannelly Award (long snapper):
• Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award:

Coaches

• AFCA Coach of the Year:
• AP Coach of the Year:
• Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year:
• Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year:
• George Munger Award:
• Home Depot Coach of the Year:
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award:
• Walter Camp Coach of the Year:

Assistants

• AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year:
• Broyles Award:

All-Americans

Main article: 2023 College Football All-America Team

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2023, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game but before its bowl game. For coaching that occurred earlier in 2023, see 2022 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Northwestern	Pat Fitzgerald	July 10, 2023	Fired after hazing allegations	David Braun (interim)
Michigan State	Mel Tucker	September 27, 2023	Fired for sexual misconduct	Harlon Barnett (interim)

End of season

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

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement	Previous position

Television viewers and ratings

Top 10 most watched regular season games

All times Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Poll (before 10/31) and CFP Rankings (thereafter).

Rank	Date	Time	Matchup				Network	Viewers (millions)	TV ratings	Significance
1	September 23	3:30 p.m.	No. 19 Colorado	6	No. 10 Oregon	42	ABC	10.03	5.2
2	September 23	7:30 p.m.	No. 6 Ohio State	17	No. 9 Notre Dame	14	NBC	9.98	5.1	College GameDay
3	October 21	12:00 p.m.	No. 7 Penn State	12	No. 3 Ohio State	20	FOX	9.96	5.3	College GameDay, Big Noon Kickoff, Rivalry
4	September 16	10:00 p.m.	Colorado State	35	No. 18 Colorado	43	ESPN	9.30	4.9	Rocky Mountain Showdown, College GameDay, Big Noon Kickoff
5	September 3	7:30 p.m.	No. 5 LSU	24	No. 8 Florida State	45	ABC	9.17	4.7	Camping World Kickoff
6	September 9	7:00 p.m.	No. 11 Texas	34	No. 3 Alabama	24	ESPN/ESPN2	8.76	4.5	Allstate Crossbar Classic, College GameDay
7	September 9	12:00 p.m.	Nebraska	14	No. 22 Colorado	36	FOX	8.73	4.8	Rivalry, Big Noon Kickoff
8	October 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 17 Tennessee	20	No. 11 Alabama	34	CBS	8.01	4.2	Third Saturday in October, SEC Nation
9	October 7	12:00 p.m.	No. 12 Oklahoma	34	No. 3 Texas	30	ABC/ESPN2	7.87	4.2	Red River Showdown, College GameDay
10	September 2	12:00 p.m.	Colorado	45	No. 17 TCU	42	FOX	7.26	3.8	Big Noon Kickoff

Television changes

This is the first year of television deals for the Big Ten Conference and Conference USA. The Big Ten's deal includes CBS, NBC/Peacock, Fox/FS1 and the Big Ten Network. The Conference USA's deal includes ESPN and CBS Sports Network. Due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, starting this season, a package of ACC games produced by Raycom Sports that were previously aired on Bally Sports will now air on The CW. This is also the final year of television deals for the Pac-12 Conference and the SEC. The SEC has signed a new deal with ESPN and the SEC Network. No new television deal has yet been signed for the Pac-12. Locally, Fresno State reached an agreement with TelevisaUnivision stations KTFF-DT and KBTF-CD to air the first ever exclusively Spanish-language television broadcast in FBS history on September 9.

Noah Eagle, formerly at Fox Sports, and Todd Blackledge, formerly at ESPN, joined NBC Sports in 2023 as the lead commentary team on Big Ten Saturday Night. Greg McElroy replaced Blackledge as ESPN's #2 college football color commentator. Derek Mason and Orlando Franklin also joined ESPN as color commentators. Jeff Levering replaced Eagle at Fox Sports, while Mark Ingram II replaced Reggie Bush on Fox's Big Noon Kickoff show.

See also

• 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2023 NCAA Division II football season
• 2023 NCAA Division III football season
• 2023 NAIA football season