2017 NCAA Division I FBS season
Western Michigan University quarterback Zach Terrell attempts a pass under pressure against Wisconsin in the 2017 Cotton Bowl Classic.
Number of teams	129 + 1 transitional
Duration	August 26, 2017 – December 9, 2017
Preseason AP No. 1	Alabama
Postseason
Duration	December 16, 2017 – January 8, 2018
Bowl games	40
AP Poll No. 1	Alabama
Coaches Poll No. 1	Alabama
Heisman Trophy	Baker Mayfield (quarterback,Oklahoma)
College Football Playoff
2018 College Football Playoff National Championship
Site	Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia
Champion(s)	Alabama
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2016 2018 →

The2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level ofcollege football competition in the United States organized by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and ended on December 9, 2017.

The postseason concluded on January 8, 2018 with the2018 College Football Playoff National Championship inAtlanta, the fourth iteration of theCollege Football Playoff championship system. In the national championship game,Alabama defeatedGeorgia in overtime, 26–23.

TheUCF Knights also claim a national championship for this season after finishing first in theColley Matrix poll, and are listed as "Final National Poll Leaders" in the NCAA's official record book.^[1] UCF finished the season as the only undefeated team inNCAA Division I FBS and defeated theAuburn Tigers in thePeach 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:^[2]

• Prohibiting defensive players running toward the line of scrimmage from leaping or hurdling any offensive lineman on field goal or PAT attempts (15 yards). Previously defensive players were allowed to leap or hurdle offensive linemen as long as they do not land on another player. The NFL also adopted this rule for the2017 season.
• Requiring players to wear knee pads and pants that cover the knees. Previously this was only a recommendation.
• Include the nameplate on the back of the jersey in the definition of a "horse-collar tackle".

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:

• Promptly starting the second half when the halftime clock reaches 0:00.
• Penalizing coaches for coming on the field to argue a call (15 yards, unsportsmanlike conduct).
• Starting the game clock immediately upon spotting the ball after a ball carrier goes out of bounds (outside of the last 2:00 of each half).

• The NCAA Division I Council approved a suite of rule changes affecting therecruiting process. The most significant of these are:^[3]
  • Effective with the 2017–18 school year, a national early signing period for high school players will be introduced, at a time in December to be announced later.
  • The current limit of 25 new scholarships (or financial aid agreements) per academic year will become an absolute limit (with only narrowly defined exceptions). This has been seen by media as ending the phenomenon ofoversigning.
  • FBS programs may no longer conduct so-called "satellite camps"—i.e., camps or clinics that feature active FBS coaches or football staff members held at locations distant from the school's campus. Effective immediately, FBS coaches may only work at camps for a total of 10 days in June and July, and can only attend camps if they are located on their school's campus, or at an off-campus facility where their program regularly practices or plays home games. Schools areallowed to honor contracts for satellite camps that were signed before January 18, 2017.^[4]
• The Collegiate Commissioners Association, which controls theletter of intent program, approved the recruiting changes approved last month by the Division I Council. The early signing period for high schoolers is fixed as the first three days of the midyear signing period for junior college players; in 2017, this window will fall on December 20–22.^[5]

Coastal Carolina is in the second year of its FBS transition. It is counted as an FBS opponent for scheduling purposes but will not become a full bowl-eligible member until 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 ofConference USA.

Idaho andNew Mexico State are playing their final seasons as football members of theSun Belt Conference. Idaho is also playing 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 theBig Sky Conference. New Mexico State will tentatively revert to FBS Independent status for 2018 and beyond.

Two schools opened new stadiums for the 2017 season:

• Colorado State openedSonny Lubick Field at Colorado State Stadium. The on-campus facility, with a capacity of 41,201, replaces the off-campusHughes Stadium, which had been home to the Rams since 1968.
• Georgia State moved from theGeorgia Dome, set to be demolished during the 2017 season, toGeorgia State Stadium. This is the third incarnation of a stadium that opened in 1996 as theCentennial Olympic Stadium, built for the1996 Summer Olympics. The stadium was planned from the beginning to be retrofitted into a baseball park for theAtlanta Braves, and opened in that form asTurner Field in 1997. After the Braves vacated Turner Field followingtheir 2016 season to move intoSunTrust Park, Georgia State bought Turner Field and adjacent property for a major campus expansion project. In its football form, the stadium initially seats 23,000 with possible future expansion to 33,000.

Several other schools plan to debut major improvements to their existing venues for 2017:

• Arizona State is continuing a four-phase renovation ofSun Devil Stadium. The third phase, slated for completion in time for the 2017 season, includes the addition of a new video board above the north end zone.
• Coastal Carolina will make its FBS debut in an expandedBrooks Stadium. The expansion project began immediately after the 2015 season, a few months after Coastal announced it would join the Sun Belt Conference in 2016 for non-football sports and 2017 for football. The venue, which previously held 9,200 people, will now have a capacity of 15,000 for the 2017 season, and will be further expanded to 20,000 in 2018.^[6]
• West Virginia is nearing completion of approximately $50 million in renovations toMilan Puskar Stadium. Work on the west and south side gates and concourses, including renovations to concessions, restrooms, and additional space for EMS and police operations, is expected to be complete for 2017, mirroring similar work on the north and east sides completed for 2016.
• Louisiana Tech will open a new pressbox and suite complex on the west side ofJoe Aillet Stadium which includes new ticketing facilities and restrooms. Also included in the renovations are, new LED stadium lighting fixtures.
• Notre Dame will debut the Campus Crossroads project, which will add three new 8-story structures on the South, West and East sides ofNotre Dame Stadium. The expansion will add new premium stadium seats on the East and West sides of the stadium and feature more than 750,000 square feet of teaching, research, and performance space.

Two schools announcednaming rights deals for their stadiums:

• Kentucky renamed its stadium from Commonwealth Stadium toKroger Field per a 12-year naming rights deal with theCincinnati-based supermarket company. This makes UK the first Southeastern Conference school to enter into such a deal for its football stadium.^[7]
• New Mexico renames its stadium from University Stadium toDreamstyle Stadium per a 10-year naming rights deal withAlbuquerque-based construction firm Dreamstyle Remodeling.^[8]

• A recent rule change allowsHawai'i, and teams that have a scheduled game at Hawai'i, to play during the "Week Zero" kickoff weekend in late August. This change better accommodates the long-standing "Hawai'i rule" that allows schools which travel between Hawai'i and the mainland (including schools based in Hawai'i) to schedule an extra game each season. Four schools have taken advantage of the extra week:^[9]
  • Hawai'i played atUMass on August 26, with the visitors winning 38–35.^[10] UMass ended their 2016 season with a loss at Hawai'i, and thus opened their 2017 season against the same opponent.
  • BYU hostedFCS opponentPortland State on August 26, winning 20–6.^[11]
  • San Jose State hostedUSF on August 26, with the visitors winning 42–22.^[12]
  • Colorado State hostedOregon State on August 26 in the first game at the Rams' new stadium (seeabove), and won 58–27.^[13]
• Stanford andRice played in Sydney on August 26 (August 27 local time) for the secondSydney Cup,^[14] won by Stanford in a 62–7 blowout.^[15] This was the second straight year aPac-12 team went to Australia, asCalifornia defeatedHawai'i in the first Sydney Cup to open the2016 season.

During the official Week 1 (as usual, held the weekend beforeLabor Day), several neutral-site "kickoff weekend" games were held, in addition to a full slate of games held at home stadiums around the U.S.:

• Advocare Classic
  • #17 Florida played against#11 Michigan atAT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) on September 2, with Michigan winning 33–17.
• Belk Kickoff Game
  • North Carolina State played againstSouth Carolina atBank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina) on September 2, with the Gamecocks winning 35–28.
• Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games
  • #1 Alabama defeated#3 Florida State Alabama rolled past FSU 24–7 at the newMercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia) on September 2.
  • #25 Tennessee defeatedGeorgia Tech Tennessee came back and won in a classic 42–41 in double overtime at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 4.
• Advocare Texas Kickoff
  • #13 LSU defeatedBYU LSU stumped BYU 27–0 at theMercedes-Benz Superdome^{[note 1]} (New Orleans, Louisiana) on September 2.

Rankings reflect theAP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond will listCollege Football Playoff Rankings first andAP Poll second. Teams that fail to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

• Week 1
  • No. 1Alabama defeated No. 3Florida State, 24–7 (Mercedes-Benz Stadium,Atlanta, GA)
• Week 2
  • No. 5Oklahoma defeated No. 2Ohio State, 30–16 (Ohio Stadium,Columbus, OH)
• Week 9
  • No. 6 Ohio State defeated No. 2Penn State, 39–38 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH)
• Week 11
  • No. 10/10Auburn defeated No. 1/2Georgia, 40–17 (Jordan–Hare Stadium,Auburn, AL)
  • No. 7/7Miami defeated No. 3/3Notre Dame, 41–8 (Hard Rock Stadium,Miami Gardens, FL)
  • No. 5/5 Oklahoma defeated No. 6/8TCU, 38–20 (Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium,Norman, OK)
• Week 13
  • No. 6/6 Auburn defeated No. 1/1 Alabama, 26–14 (Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL)
• Week 14
  • No. 1/1Clemson defeated No. 7/7 Miami, 38–3 (2017 ACC Championship Game),Bank of America Stadium,Charlotte, NC
  • No. 6/6 Georgia defeated No. 2/4 Auburn, 28–7 (2017 SEC Championship Game,Mercedes-Benz Stadium,Atlanta, GA)
  • No. 3/2 Oklahoma defeated No. 11/10 TCU, 41–17 (2017 Big 12 Championship Game,AT&T Stadium,Arlington, TX)
  • No. 8/8 Ohio State defeated No. 4/3Wisconsin, 27–21 (2017 Big Ten Championship Game,Lucas Oil Stadium,Indianapolis, IN)

For purposes of this table, an "upset" involves an unranked team defeating a ranked team.

FBS rankings prior to November 1 are from the AP Poll, and from the College Football Playoff rankings after that date.

Through the 2015 season, conferences were required to have a minimum of 12 members to play a conference championship game that was exempt from the NCAA limit of 12 regular-season games. The NCAA removed this requirement effective with the 2016 season.^[16] At that time, all FBS conferences except the Big 12 and Sun Belt Conferences held season-ending championship games. With the Big 12 reinstating its championship game for the 2017 season, only the Sun Belt Conference determines its champion solely by regular-season records, and that conference will launch a championship game in 2018.

For the 39 post-seasonbowl games, teams should bebowl eligible to be selected. Normally, this requires a team to have a minimum of a 0.500winning percentage. If there are not be enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records could be chosen in order to fill all 78 slots. Additionally, in the rare occasions where a conference champion does not meet eligibility requirements, they are usually still chosen for bowl games withtie-ins for that conference champion.

• American Athletic Conference (7): Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, SMU, Temple, UCF
• Atlantic Coast Conference (9): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida St, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
• Big 12 Conference (8): Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, West Virginia
• Big Ten Conference (8): Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
• Conference USA (10): Florida Atlantic, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Southern Miss, UAB, Western Kentucky, UTSA
• Independents (2): Army, Notre Dame
• Mid-American Conference (7): Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
• Mountain West Conference (6): Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming
• Pac-12 Conference (9): Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
• Southeastern Conference (9): Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M
• Sun Belt Conference (5): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia State, New Mexico St, Troy

Total: 81

• The American (5):Cincinnati,UConn,East Carolina,Tulane,Tulsa
• ACC (4):North Carolina,Georgia Tech,Pittsburgh,Syracuse
• Big Ten (6):Illinois,Indiana,Maryland,Minnesota,Nebraska,Rutgers
• Big 12 (2):Baylor,Kansas
• Conference USA (4):Charlotte,Old Dominion,Rice,Texas-El Paso
• Independent (2):BYU,UMass
• MAC (5):Ball State,Bowling Green,Eastern Michigan,Kent State,Miami (OH)
• Mountain West (6):Air Force,Hawaii,Nevada,New Mexico,San Jose State,UNLV
• Pac-12 (3):California,Colorado,Oregon State
• SEC (5):Arkansas,Mississippi (self-imposed ban),Tennessee,Vanderbilt,Florida
• Sun Belt (6):Coastal Carolina,Georgia Southern,Idaho,Louisiana–Monroe,South Alabama,Texas State
• Independent (2):BYU,UMass

Total: 49

This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2017. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2017, see2016 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

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

TheHeisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

• Archie Griffin Award (MVP): Finalists:
• AP Player of the Year: Finalists:
• Chic Harley Award (Player of the Year): Finalists:
• Maxwell Award (top player): Finalists:
  • Saquon Barkley, Penn State
  • Bryce Love, Stanford
  • Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
• SN Player of the Year: Finalists:
• Walter Camp Award (top player): Finalists:

• Burlsworth Trophy (top player who began as walk-on): Finalists:
• Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player): Finalists:
• Campbell Trophy ("academic Heisman"): Finalists:
  • Sam Benger,Carnegie Mellon (DIII)
  • Braxton Berrios,Miami
  • Mason Hampton,Boise State
  • Justin Jackson,Northwestern
  • Micah Kiser,Virginia
  • Justin Lea,Jacksonville State (FCS)
  • Brad Lundblade,Oklahoma State
  • Marcus Martin,Slippery Rock (DII)
  • Chandon Sullivan,Georgia State
  • Blaise Taylor,Arkansas State
  • Marlon Walls,Stephen F. Austin (FCS)
  • Chris Weber,Nebraska
  • Jake Wieneke,South Dakota State (FCS)
• Wuerffel Trophy (humanitarian-athlete): Finalists:
  • Blaise Taylor, Arkansas State
  • Courtney Love,Kentucky
  • Drue Tranquill,Notre Dame
• POLY POY (Polynesian College Football Player of the Year): Finalists:

Quarterback

• Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Finalists:
  • J.T. Barrett,Ohio State
  • Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
  • Mason Rudolph,Oklahoma State
• Johnny Unitas Award (senior/4th year quarterback): Finalists:
• Kellen Moore Award (quarterback):
• Manning Award (quarterback): Finalists:
• Sammy Baugh Trophy (passing quarterback): Finalists:

Running back

• Doak Walker Award (running back): Finalists:
  • Saquon Barkley, Penn State
  • Bryce Love, Stanford
  • Jonathan Taylor,Wisconsin
• Jim Brown Trophy (running back): Finalists:

Wide receiver

• Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Finalists:
  • Michael Gallup,Colorado State
  • David Sills V,West Virginia
  • James Washington,Oklahoma State

Tight end

• John Mackey Award (tight end): Finalists:
  • Mark Andrews,Oklahoma
  • Troy Fumagalli,Wisconsin
  • Mike Gesicki,Penn State

Lineman

• Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Finalists:

• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player): Finalists:
  • Bradley Chubb,NC State
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick,Alabama
  • Josey Jewell,Iowa
  • Ed Oliver,Houston
  • Roquan Smith,Georgia
• Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Finalists:
  • Bradley Chubb, NC State
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
  • Roquan Smith, Georgia
• Lott Trophy (defensive impact): Finalists:

Defensive line

• Bill Willis Award (defensive lineman): Finalists:
• Dick Butkus Award (linebacker): Finalists:
  • Devin Bush Jr.,Michigan
  • Tremaine Edmunds,Virginia Tech
  • T. J. Edwards,Wisconsin
  • Dorian O'Daniel,Clemson
  • Roquan Smith, Georgia
• Jack Lambert Trophy (linebacker): Finalists:
• Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end): Finalists:

Defensive back

• Paycom Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Finalists:
  • DeShon Elliott,Texas
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
  • Josh Jackson,Iowa
• Jack Tatum Trophy (defensive back): Finalists:

• Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Finalists:
  • Daniel Carlson,Auburn
  • Dominik Eberle,Utah State
  • Matt Gay,Utah
• Ray Guy Award (punter): Finalists:
  • Michael Dickson,Texas
  • J. K. Scott,Alabama
  • Mitch Wishnowsky,Utah

• Outland Trophy (interior lineman on either offense or defense): Finalists:
  • Orlando Brown,Oklahoma
  • Quenton Nelson,Notre Dame
  • Ed Oliver, Houston

• 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2017 NCAA Division II football season
• 2017 NCAA Division III football season
• 2017 NAIA football season-

• 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season

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