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The 2020 season

Alabama finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under Nick Saban, after it beat Ohio State 52–⁠24 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 2 Notre Dame 14 (Jan 1, 2021). Two FBS teams finished unbeaten. 50 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Biletnikoff and Hornung.

The Heisman vote: DeVonta Smith 1,856 points, Trevor Lawrence 1,187
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
DeVonta Smith WR, Alabama1,85644722173
Trevor Lawrence QB, Clemson1,187222176169
Mac Jones QB, Alabama1,130138248220
Kyle Trask QB, Florida73761164226
Najee Harris RB, Alabama216164774
Breece Hall RB, Iowa State6461026
Justin Fields QB, Ohio State485621
Zach Wilson QB, BYU423621
Ian Book QB, Notre Dame385513
Kyle Pitts TE, Florida240710

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 2020 Clemson team
The 2020 Clemson team: NCAA FOOTBALL 2020: Pitt at Clemson NOV 28Photo: ClemsonTigerNet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, found with OpenverseFound using Openverse, which does not endorse or certify this site.
The 2020 Clemson season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Alabama (61)Southeastern Conference
2Ohio StateBig Ten
3ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
4Texas A&MSoutheastern Conference
5Notre DameAtlantic Coast Conference
6OklahomaBig 12
7GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
8CincinnatiAmerican Athletic Conference
9Iowa StateBig 12
10NorthwesternBig Ten
11BYUFBS Independents
12IndianaBig Ten
13FloridaSoutheastern Conference
14Coastal CarolinaSun Belt Conference
15LouisianaSun Belt Conference
16IowaBig Ten
17LibertyFBS Independents
18North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
19TexasBig 12
20Oklahoma StateBig 12
21USCPac-12
22MiamiAtlantic Coast Conference
23Ball StateMid-American Conference
24San José StateMountain West Conference
25BuffaloMid-American Conference

Biggest upsets

Sep 26, 2020Kansas State 38, 3Oklahoma 35Kansas State +27.5
Dec 5, 2020Rice 20, 15Marshall 0Rice +24.5
Dec 12, 2020LSU 37, 6Florida 34LSU +23
Oct 31, 2020Michigan State 27, 13Michigan 24Michigan State +21.5
Oct 3, 2020Tulsa 34, 11UCF 26Tulsa +20.5
Oct 3, 2020Arkansas 21, 16Mississippi State 14Arkansas +16.5
Sep 26, 2020Mississippi State 44, 6LSU 34Mississippi State +14.5
Oct 3, 2020NC State 30, 24Pittsburgh 29NC State +14
Oct 17, 2020Florida State 31, 5North Carolina 28Florida State +13.5
Nov 28, 2020Michigan State 29, 11Northwestern 20Michigan State +13.5
Dec 5, 202010Indiana 14, 18Wisconsin 6Indiana +13.5
Nov 27, 2020Oregon State 41, 9Oregon 38Oregon State +13

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

Most exciting games

Oct 10, 202021Texas A&M 41, 4Florida 38
Oct 31, 2020Louisiana Tech 37, UAB 34
Dec 19, 2020Stanford 48, UCLA 47
Oct 10, 2020Oklahoma 53, 22Texas 45
Nov 21, 2020Michigan 48, Rutgers 42
Dec 12, 2020Rutgers 27, Maryland 24
Oct 31, 2020Texas 41, 6Oklahoma State 34
Oct 16, 202017SMU 37, Tulane 34

By CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index: how far each team’s chance of winning swung, play by play. Games with an FBS team, decided by 16 points or fewer.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2020, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 4Wk 6Wk 8Wk 10Wk 12Wk 14Wk 16FinalNorthwestern: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 No. 23, Wk 12 No. 19, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 16, Wk 15 No. 15, Wk 16 No. 15, Final No. 1010 NorthwesternIowa State: Wk 1 No. 23, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 24, Wk 7 No. 20, Wk 8 No. 17, Wk 9 No. 23, Wk 10 No. 17, Wk 11 No. 17, Wk 12 No. 17, Wk 13 No. 15, Wk 14 No. 12, Wk 15 No. 10, Wk 16 No. 8, Final No. 99 Iowa StateCincinnati: Wk 1 No. 20, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 6, Final No. 88 CincinnatiGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 12, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 13, Wk 14 No. 11, Wk 15 No. 12, Wk 16 No. 10, Final No. 77 GeorgiaOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 18, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 24, Wk 10 No. 19, Wk 11 No. 18, Wk 12 No. 18, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 13, Wk 15 No. 13, Wk 16 No. 12, Final No. 66 OklahomaNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 10, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 55 Notre DameTexas A&M: Wk 1 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 13, Wk 6 No. 21, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 44 Texas A&MClemson: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 33 ClemsonOhio State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 22 Ohio StateAlabama: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 11 Alabama
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Northwesternunranked → No. 10
  2. BYUunranked → No. 11
  3. Iowa StateNo. 23 → No. 9
  4. Indianaunranked → No. 12
  5. CincinnatiNo. 20 → No. 8

Fell

  1. LSUNo. 6 → unranked
  2. Penn StateNo. 7 → unranked
  3. OregonNo. 9 → unranked
  4. AuburnNo. 11 → unranked
  5. WisconsinNo. 12 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

The College Football Playoff

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: Alabama

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Mac Jones Alabama4,500 yds
  2. 2Kyle Trask Florida4,283 yds
  3. 3Zach Wilson BYU3,651 yds
  4. 4Sam Howell North Carolina3,586 yds
  5. 5Dillon Gabriel UCF3,517 yds

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Kyle Trask Florida43 TD
  2. 2Mac Jones Alabama41 TD
  3. T3Dillon Gabriel UCF32 TD
  4. T3Zach Wilson BYU32 TD
  5. 5Brady White Memphis31 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Breece Hall Iowa State1,573 yds
  2. 2Sincere McCormick UTSA1,467 yds
  3. 3Najee Harris Alabama1,466 yds
  4. 4Michael Carter North Carolina1,245 yds
  5. 5Khalil Herbert Virginia Tech1,183 yds

The NCAA’s official leader is Breece Hall (Iowa State), with 1,572 yds; our source has him at 1,573 yds.

Rushing touchdowns

  1. 1Najee Harris Alabama26 TD
  2. 2Breece Hall Iowa State21 TD
  3. T3Jaret Patterson Buffalo19 TD
  4. T3Javonte Williams North Carolina19 TD
  5. 5Mohamed Ibrahim Minnesota15 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1DeVonta Smith Alabama1,856 yds
  2. 2Elijah Moore Ole Miss1,193 yds
  3. 3Jaelon Darden North Texas1,190 yds
  4. 4Dax Milne BYU1,189 yds
  5. 5Jonathan Adams Jr. Arkansas State1,111 yds

Receiving touchdowns

  1. 1DeVonta Smith Alabama23 TD
  2. 2Jaelon Darden North Texas19 TD
  3. T3Isaac Rex BYU12 TD
  4. T3Jonathan Adams Jr. Arkansas State12 TD
  5. T3Kyle Pitts Florida12 TD

Tackles

  1. 1Carlton Martial Troy114 tkl
  2. 2Zakoby McClain Auburn113 tkl
  3. 3Grant Morgan Arkansas111 tkl
  4. 4Payton Wilson NC State108 tkl
  5. 5Isaiah McDuffie Boston College107 tkl

Sacks

  1. T1Cade Hall San José State10 sacks
  2. T1Will McDonald Iowa State10 sacks
  3. T3Azeez Ojulari Georgia9.5 sacks
  4. T3Jordan Strachan Georgia State9.5 sacks
  5. 5Nik Bonitto Oklahoma9 sacks

Interceptions

  1. T1Brandon Joseph Northwestern6 INT
  2. T1Derrick Canteen Georgia Southern6 INT
  3. T3D’Jordan Strong Coastal Carolina5 INT
  4. T3Mike Rose Iowa State5 INT
  5. T3Shakur Brown Michigan State5 INT

FBS players; season totals from CollegeFootballData.com player statistics.

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Cincinnati
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big 12
Oklahoma
Big Ten
Ohio State
Conference USA
UAB
Mid-American Conference
Ball State
Mountain West Conference
San José State
Pac-12
Oregon
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Sun Belt Conference
Coastal Carolina and Louisiana (shared)

FCS

Big Sky
Weber State
Big South
Monmouth
Colonial Athletic Association
Delaware
Missouri Valley Football Conference
Missouri State, North Dakota and South Dakota State (shared)
Northeast Conference
Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley Conference
Jacksonville State
Patriot League
Holy Cross
Pioneer Football League
Davidson
Southern Conference
VMI
Southland Conference
Sam Houston
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alabama A&M

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

29 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2020 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2020 All-America teams page.

The 2020 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Alabama 91 on the staff list

Support staff (80)

Analysts and quality control

  • Butch Jones special assistant to head coach
  • Joe Pendry special assistant to head coach
  • Dean Altobelli football analyst
  • Major Applewhite football analyst
  • Javier Arenas football analyst
  • Bert Biffani football analyst
  • Rob Ezell analyst
  • Johnathan Galante football analyst
  • Shiloh Keo football analyst
  • A.J. Milwee football analyst
  • Alex Mortensen football analyst
  • Nick Perry football analyst
  • Patrick Reilly football analyst
  • Gordon Steele football analyst
  • Mike Stoops football analyst
  • Charlie Strong football analyst
  • Michael Stoops football analyst

Strength and conditioning

  • David Ballou director of sports performance
  • Matt Rhea director of sports Science
  • Matthew Clapp assistant strength and conditioning coach (football)
  • Paul Constantine assistant strength and conditioning coach (football)
  • Tyler Owens assistant strength and conditioning coach (football)
  • Terry Jones assistant head strength and conditioning coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Ellis Ponder associate athletics director, football chief Operating Officer
  • J.T. Summerford director, football operations
  • Brandy Lyerly associate director, football operations
  • Kelli Kuharich coordinator, football operations
  • Carrigan Johnson coordinator, football operations
  • Ashleigh Kimble associate director, recruiting operations
  • Makenzie Votteler associate director, football recruitment
  • Daniel Bush director, football recruitment
  • Sam Petitto director, personnel operations
  • Bob Welton director, player personnel
  • Roger Bedford assistant director, player personnel
  • Marc Votteler assistant director, player personnel
  • Denzel Devall director, player development
  • Josh Chapman director, player development
  • Evan Van Nostrand assistant director, player development
  • Cedric Burns athletics relations coordinator
  • Savannah French coordinator, football Marketing
  • Linda Leoni administrative assistant
  • Glenda Edwards administrative Secretary
  • Jeff Purinton deputy athletics director (sport administrator for football)

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Jeff Allen associate athletics director, sports medicine (football)
  • Bobby Feeback athletic trainer (football)
  • Jeremy Gsell director, football Rehabilitation services
  • Clay Keith athletic performance analyst
  • Ryan Vicknair athletic trainer (football)
  • Ginger Gilmore-Childress director, Behavioral medicine
  • Dr. Jeffrey Anderson CARDIOLOGIST
  • Dr. Steven Bonner PSYCHIATRIST
  • David Breedlove PHYSICAL THERAPIST
  • Edgar Calloway PARAMEDIC
  • Dr. Thomas Davis OPHTHALMOLOGIST
  • Dr. Bhrett McCabe SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST
  • Dr. Bryan McDonald CHIROPRACTOR
  • Richard Rickel MASSAGE THERAPIST
  • Dr. James Robinson MEDICAL DIRECTOR
  • Suzette Smalley CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER
  • Frank Newell assistant sports nutritionist
  • Ginger Gilmore director, Behavioral medicine (athletic trainer)

Equipment

  • Jeff Springer associate athletics director, equipment operations
  • Kyle Smith assistant athletic equipment manager, football

Video, communications and other staff

  • Jonathan King director, football Graphics
  • Ryan Adams assistant director, football Graphics
  • Steven Jenkins assistant director, video Production
  • Matt Hard director, football video services
  • Daniel Lyerly assistant athletics director, video operations
  • Kaleb Medena ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, VIDEO SERVICES
  • Kent Gidley director
  • Josh Maxson assistant athletics director, football communications
  • Molly Dowd assistant athletics director, Student services
  • Amy Bragg director, performance nutrition
  • Rainey Gerald assistant sports nutritionist
  • Kevin Murray executive Chef
  • Matthew Hard assistant director, video services
  • Kaleb Medema assistant director, football video operations
  • Roots Woodruff associate director of athletics communications (football credentials)
  • Jon Dever senior associate athletics director, Student services (academic support)
  • Jessica Pare senior associate athletics director, athletics communications (football logistics, credentials)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

The selection committee

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2020, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 21, 2020App State 56, North Texas 28Myrtle Beach Bowl
Dec 22, 2020Nevada 38, Tulane 27Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Dec 22, 202014BYU 49, UCF 23Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 23, 2020Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3New Orleans Bowl
Dec 23, 2020Memphis 25, Florida Atlantic 10Montgomery Bowl
Dec 24, 2020Hawai’i 28, Houston 14New Mexico Bowl
Dec 25, 202023Buffalo 17, Marshall 10Camellia Bowl
Dec 26, 202017Louisiana 31, UTSA 24First Responder Bowl
Dec 26, 2020Georgia State 39, Western Kentucky 21LendingTree Bowl
Dec 26, 202022Liberty 37, 9Coastal Carolina 34Cure Bowl
Dec 29, 2020Oklahoma State 37, 19Miami 34Cheez-It Bowl
Dec 29, 202021Texas 55, Colorado 23Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 2020Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Dec 30, 202012Oklahoma 55, 11Florida 20Cotton Bowl
Dec 31, 2020Mississippi State 28, 20Tulsa 26Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 31, 2020Ball State 34, 25San José State 13Arizona Bowl
Dec 31, 2020West Virginia 24, Army 21Liberty Bowl
Jan 1, 202110Georgia 24, 6Cincinnati 21Peach Bowl
Jan 1, 202115Northwestern 35, Auburn 19Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 20211Alabama 31, 2Notre Dame 14Rose Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 1, 20213Ohio State 49, 4Clemson 28Sugar Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 2, 2021Kentucky 23, 24NC State 21Gator Bowl
Jan 2, 2021Ole Miss 26, 7Indiana 20Outback Bowl
Jan 2, 20218Iowa State 34, Oregon 17Fiesta Bowl
Jan 2, 20215Texas A&M 41, 16North Carolina 27Orange Bowl
Jan 11, 20211Alabama 52, 3Ohio State 24CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2020 NCAA rule book against the one before: 3 new, 11 changed, 2 removed and 1 retitled articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Changed Rule 1-4-2 Players’ Numbering (Players and Playing Equipment)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • Changed Rule 2-20-1 (Penalty)
  • New Rule 2-27-12 Disqualified Player and Ejected Player (Team and Player Designations)
  • Removed Rule 2-27-12 Disqualified Player (Team and Player Designations)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • Retitled Rule 3-1-1 Pregame, First and Third Periods (Start of Each Period)

Rule 6: Kicks

  • Changed Rule 6-1-11 Player Out Of Bounds (Free Kicks)
  • Changed Rule 6-3-12 Out-of-Bounds Player (Scrimmage Kicks)
  • New Rule 6-3-14 Defensive Linemen on Scrimmage Kick Plays (Scrimmage Kicks)
  • Removed Rule 6-3-14 Defensive Linemen on Place Kicks (Scrimmage Kicks)

Rule 8: Scoring

  • Changed Rule 8-3-4 Fouls During a Try After a Change of Team Possession (Try Down)

Rule 9: Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules

  • Changed Rule 9-1-1 Flagrant Fouls (Personal Fouls)
  • Changed Rule 9-2-6 Ejected Players and Coaches (Unsportsmanlike Conduct Fouls)
  • Changed Rule 9-5-2 (Fighting)
  • Changed Rule 9-5-3 (Fighting)
  • Changed Rule 9-6-1 Player Ejection (Flagrant Personal Fouls)

Rule 11: The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties

  • Changed Rule 11-1-1 (Jurisdiction)
  • New Rule 11-1-2 (Jurisdiction)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).