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The 2021 season

Georgia finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 14–⁠1 under Kirby Smart, after it beat Alabama 33–⁠18 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18 (Jan 10, 2022). 73 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama, who also won the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and Manning.

The Heisman vote: Bryce Young 2,311 points, Aidan Hutchinson 954
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Bryce Young QB, Alabama2,31168410745
Aidan Hutchinson DE, Michigan95478273174
Kenny Pickett QB, Pittsburgh63128175197
C.J. Stroud QB, Ohio State39912118127
Will Anderson Jr. LB, Alabama325317974
Kenneth Walker III RB, Michigan State245185385
Matt Corral QB, Ole Miss150103256
Desmond Ridder QB, Cincinnati8151536
Jordan Davis DT, Georgia7591518
Breece Hall RB, Iowa State17057

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

The 2021 Brown team
The 2021 Brown team: The Bears lost to the Rhode Island Rams, 24–⁠45.Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 2021 Brown season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Georgia (61)Southeastern Conference
2AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
3MichiganBig Ten
4CincinnatiAmerican Athletic Conference
5BaylorBig 12
6Ohio StateBig Ten
7Oklahoma StateBig 12
8Notre DameFBS Independents
9Michigan StateBig Ten
10OklahomaBig 12
11Ole MissSoutheastern Conference
12UtahPac-12
13PittsburghAtlantic Coast Conference
14ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
15Wake ForestAtlantic Coast Conference
16LouisianaSun Belt Conference
17HoustonAmerican Athletic Conference
18KentuckySoutheastern Conference
19BYUFBS Independents
20NC StateAtlantic Coast Conference
21ArkansasSoutheastern Conference
22OregonPac-12
23IowaBig Ten
24Utah StateMountain West Conference
25San Diego StateMountain West Conference

Biggest upsets

Oct 23, 2021Illinois 20, 7Penn State 18Illinois +24.5
Sep 4, 2021Montana 13, 20Washington 7Montana +22.5
Oct 9, 2021Texas A&M 41, 1Alabama 38Texas A&M +18.5
Sep 11, 2021Stanford 42, 14USC 28Stanford +17.5
Sep 11, 202112Oregon 35, 3Ohio State 28Oregon +15
Sep 25, 2021Georgia Tech 45, 21North Carolina 22Georgia Tech +14.5
Oct 16, 2021LSU 49, 20Florida 42LSU +12.5
Nov 13, 2021Georgia State 42, 22Coastal Carolina 40Georgia State +12.5
Oct 16, 2021Purdue 24, 2Iowa 7Purdue +11.5
Sep 18, 2021Fresno State 40, 13UCLA 37Fresno State +11
Sep 25, 2021NC State 27, 9Clemson 21NC State +10.5
Oct 2, 2021Hawai’i 27, 18Fresno State 24Hawai’i +10.5

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

Dec 30, 2021Purdue 48, Tennessee 45
Oct 9, 2021Marshall 20, Old Dominion 13
Nov 6, 2021Marshall 28, Florida Atlantic 13
Oct 30, 2021Bowling Green 56, Buffalo 44
Oct 2, 2021UTEP 28, Old Dominion 21
Sep 18, 2021Western Michigan 44, Pittsburgh 41
Sep 11, 2021Louisiana Tech 45, SE Louisiana 42
Sep 11, 2021South Alabama 22, Bowling Green 19

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 2021, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 13, Wk 15 No. 14, Final No. 1010 OklahomaMichigan State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 20, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 11, Wk 15 No. 11, Final No. 99 Michigan StateNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 14, Wk 8 No. 13, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 88 Notre DameOklahoma State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 19, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 15, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 9, Final No. 77 Oklahoma StateOhio State: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Final No. 66 Ohio StateBaylor: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 21, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 20, Wk 9 No. 16, Wk 10 No. 14, Wk 11 No. 18, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 6, Final No. 55 BaylorCincinnati: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 44 CincinnatiMichigan: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 25, Wk 4 No. 19, Wk 5 No. 14, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 33 MichiganAlabama: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 22 AlabamaGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 11 Georgia
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. Michiganunranked → No. 3
  2. Baylorunranked → No. 5
  3. Oklahoma Stateunranked → No. 7
  4. Michigan Stateunranked → No. 9
  5. Ole Missunranked → No. 11

Fell

  1. Texas A&MNo. 6 → unranked
  2. Iowa StateNo. 7 → unranked
  3. North CarolinaNo. 10 → unranked
  4. WisconsinNo. 12 → unranked
  5. FloridaNo. 13 → unranked

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

The College Football Playoff

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: Georgia

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Bailey Zappe Western Kentucky5,967 yds
  2. 2Bryce Young Alabama4,872 yds
  3. 3Will Rogers Mississippi State4,739 yds
  4. 4Brennan Armstrong Virginia4,444 yds
  5. 5C.J. Stroud Ohio State4,435 yds

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Bailey Zappe Western Kentucky62 TD
  2. 2Bryce Young Alabama47 TD
  3. 3C.J. Stroud Ohio State44 TD
  4. 4Kenny Pickett Pittsburgh42 TD
  5. 5Sam Hartman Wake Forest39 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Lew Nichols Central Michigan1,848 yds
  2. 2Kenneth Walker III Michigan State1,636 yds
  3. 3Tyler Allgeier BYU1,606 yds
  4. 4Tyler Badie Missouri1,604 yds
  5. 5Abram Smith Baylor1,601 yds

Rushing touchdowns

  1. T1Rasheen Ali Marshall23 TD
  2. T1Tyler Allgeier BYU23 TD
  3. 3Tavion Thomas Utah21 TD
  4. T4Breece Hall Iowa State20 TD
  5. T4Hassan Haskins Michigan20 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1Jerreth Sterns Western Kentucky1,902 yds
  2. 2Deven Thompkins Utah State1,704 yds
  3. 3Jaxon Smith-Njigba Ohio State1,606 yds
  4. 4Jordan Addison Pittsburgh1,593 yds
  5. 5Jameson Williams Alabama1,572 yds

Receiving touchdowns

  1. T1Jerreth Sterns Western Kentucky17 TD
  2. T1Jordan Addison Pittsburgh17 TD
  3. T3A.T. Perry Wake Forest15 TD
  4. T3Jameson Williams Alabama15 TD
  5. 5Mitchell Tinsley Western Kentucky14 TD

Tackles

  1. 1Chad Muma Wyoming142 tkl
  2. 2Jack Campbell Iowa140 tkl
  3. 3Damone Clark LSU136 tkl
  4. 4Kyle Harmon San José State134 tkl
  5. 5Chris Bergin Northwestern132 tkl

Sacks

  1. 1Will Anderson Jr. Alabama17.5 sacks
  2. 2Andre Carter II Army14.5 sacks
  3. 3Aidan Hutchinson Michigan14 sacks
  4. 4Ali Fayad Western Michigan13 sacks
  5. 5Josaiah Stewart Coastal Carolina12.5 sacks

Interceptions

  1. T1J.T. Woods Baylor6 INT
  2. T1Ji’Ayir Brown Penn State6 INT
  3. T1Verone McKinley III Oregon6 INT
  4. T4Antavious Lane Georgia State5 INT
  5. T4Dane Belton Iowa5 INT

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

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Cincinnati
Atlantic Coast Conference
Pittsburgh
Big 12
Baylor
Big Ten
Michigan
Conference USA
UTSA
Mid-American Conference
Northern Illinois
Mountain West Conference
Utah State
Pac-12
Utah
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Sun Belt Conference
Louisiana

FCS

American West Conference
Sam Houston
Big Sky
Sacramento State
Big South
Kennesaw State
Colonial Athletic Association
James Madison and Villanova (shared)
Ivy League
Dartmouth and Princeton (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
South Carolina State
Missouri Valley Football Conference
North Dakota State
Northeast Conference
Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley Conference
UT Martin
Patriot League
Holy Cross
Pioneer Football League
Davidson
Southern Conference
East Tennessee State
Southland Conference
Incarnate Word
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State

Division II and below

Great Lakes Valley Conference
Lindenwood
Gulf South Conference
West Florida
Northeast 10
New Haven

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

26 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2021 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2021 All-America teams page.

The 2021 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

Georgia 67 on the staff list

  • Kirby Smarthead coach
  • Dan LanningFain and Billy Slaughter defensive coordinator – outside linebackers (part of the season)
  • Todd Monkenoffensive coordinator – quarterbacks coach
  • Scott Cochranspecial teams coordinator
  • Cortez Hanktonpass game coordinator – wide receivers
  • Jahmile Addaeassistant coach – defensive backs
  • Todd Hartleyassistant coach – tight ends
  • Matt Lukeassociate head coach – offensive line
  • Dell McGeerun game coordinator – running backs
  • Glenn Schumannco-defensive coordinator – inside linebackers
  • Tray Scottassistant coach – defensive line
Support staff (56)

Analysts and quality control

  • Will Muschamp senior analyst – defense
  • Garrett Murphy defensive assistant
  • Jacob Russell offensive assistant
  • Adam Ray special teams assistant
  • John Jancek quality control coordinator
  • Buster Faulkner quality control – offense
  • Montgomery VanGorder quality control – offense
  • Davis Merritt quality control – defense
  • Robert Muschamp quality control – defense
  • Bryant Gross-Armiento quality control – defense
  • Robby Discher quality control – special teams
  • Ben Schmidt sports Science Data analyst

Strength and conditioning

  • Scott Sinclair director of strength & conditioning
  • Maurice Sims associate director of strength & conditioning
  • Ben Sowders assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Tersoo Uhaa assistant strength & conditioning coach
  • Rodney Prince assistant strength and conditioning coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Josh Lee director of football operations
  • Neyland Raper assistant director of football operations & recruiting
  • Hailey Hughes football operations coordinator
  • Anna Courson football operations assistant
  • Lewis Freeman football operations assistant
  • Mike Cavan director of football administration
  • Jay Chapman director of football Management
  • Bryant Gantt director of player support and operations
  • Jonas Jennings director of player development
  • Austin Chambers assistant director of player development
  • Juwan Taylor player development assistant
  • Matt Godwin player personnel coordinator
  • Katie Turner director of recruiting operations
  • Christina Harris director of recruiting administration
  • David Cooper director of recruiting relations
  • Angela Kirkpatrick on Campus recruiting coordinator
  • Cameron Lemons assistant recruiting coordinator
  • Logen Reed assistant recruiting coordinator
  • Ann Hunt administrative assistant to head coach
  • James Ellis player personnel assistant

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Collier Madaleno director of football performance nutrition
  • Meaghan Turcotte assistant director of football performance nutrition
  • Ron Courson executive associate AD, director of sports medicine
  • Chris Blaszka assistant athletic trainer
  • Brittany deCamp assistant athletic trainer
  • Ryan Madaleno assistant athletic trainer
  • Drew Willson associate athletic trainer

Equipment

  • John Meshad director of equipment operations
  • Gage Whitten director of football equipment and Apparel
  • Wil Wells assistant director of football equipment
  • Roger Velasquez equipment Intern

Video, communications and other staff

  • Jeremy Klawsky director of football Technology
  • Eric Black director of football creative – football
  • Chandler Eldridge co-director of football creative – design
  • Chad Morehead co-director of football creative design
  • Trevor Terry assistant director of football creative – video
  • Rashawn Scott Intern – offense
  • Kyle Lane video coordinator
  • Roderick Hall Culinary Intern

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

  • Charlie Cobb | Georgia State athletic director; former NC State center
  • Gary Barta Iowa athletic director
  • Joe Castiglione Oklahoma athletic director
  • Ken Hatfield Former Rice, Air Force, Arkansas and Clemson head coach
  • Paola Boivin Former Arizona Republic reporter, then-current Arizona State faculty member
  • Rod West Former Notre Dame linebacker, former president of the Allstate Sugar Bowl
  • Ronnie Lott Former USC defensive back
  • Scott Stricklin Florida athletic director
  • Terry Mohajir Arkansas State athletic director
  • Todd Stansbury Georgia Tech athletic director
  • Will Shields Former NFL player and Nebraska All-American

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2021, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 17, 2021Middle Tennessee 31, Toledo 24Bahamas Bowl
Dec 17, 2021Coastal Carolina 47, Northern Illinois 41Cure Bowl
Dec 18, 2021Western Kentucky 59, App State 38Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 18, 2021Fresno State 31, UTEP 24New Mexico Bowl
Dec 18, 2021UAB 31, 12BYU 28Independence Bowl
Dec 18, 2021Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20LendingTree Bowl
Dec 18, 2021Utah State 24, Oregon State 13LA Bowl
Dec 18, 202116Louisiana 36, Marshall 21New Orleans Bowl
Dec 20, 2021Tulsa 30, Old Dominion 17Myrtle Beach Bowl
Dec 21, 2021Wyoming 52, Kent State 38Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Dec 21, 2021San Diego State 38, 24UTSA 24Frisco Bowl
Dec 22, 2021Army 24, Missouri 22Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 23, 2021Miami (OH) 27, North Texas 14Frisco Football Classic
Dec 23, 2021UCF 29, Florida 17Gasparilla Bowl
Dec 25, 2021Georgia State 51, Ball State 20Camellia Bowl
Dec 27, 2021Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24Quick Lane Bowl
Dec 28, 202121Houston 17, Auburn 13Birmingham Bowl
Dec 28, 2021Air Force 31, Louisville 28First Responder Bowl
Dec 28, 2021Texas Tech 34, Mississippi State 7Liberty Bowl
Dec 28, 2021Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Dec 29, 2021Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10Pinstripe Bowl
Dec 29, 202119Clemson 20, Iowa State 13Cheez-It Bowl
Dec 29, 202114Oklahoma 47, 15Oregon 32Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 2021South Carolina 38, North Carolina 21Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Dec 30, 2021Purdue 48, Tennessee 45Music City Bowl
Dec 30, 202111Michigan State 31, 13Pittsburgh 21Peach Bowl
Dec 30, 2021Wisconsin 20, Arizona State 13Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 31, 202120Wake Forest 38, Rutgers 10Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 2021Central Michigan 24, Washington State 21Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 20211Alabama 27, 4Cincinnati 6Cotton Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Dec 31, 20213Georgia 34, 2Michigan 11Orange Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 1, 202222Arkansas 24, Penn State 10Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 202225Kentucky 20, 17Iowa 17Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 20229Oklahoma State 37, 5Notre Dame 35Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 20227Ohio State 48, 10Utah 45Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 20226Baylor 21, 8Ole Miss 7Sugar Bowl
Jan 4, 2022Kansas State 42, LSU 20Texas Bowl
Jan 10, 20223Georgia 33, 1Alabama 18CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2021 NCAA rule book against the one before: 1 new, 7 changed and 1 retitled articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Changed Rule 1-2-4 Team Area and Coaching Box (The Field)
  • Changed Rule 1-3-2 Administration and Enforcement (The Ball)
  • Retitled Rule 1-4-13 Referee Communication (Players and Playing Equipment)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • Changed Rule 2-6-1 (Deliberate Dead-Ball Advance)
  • Changed Rule 2-15-1 (Hurdling)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • New Rule 3-4-5 (Delays/Clock Tactics)

Rule 6: Kicks

  • Changed Rule 6-4-1 Interference With Opportunity (Opportunity To Catch a Kick)

Rule 7: Snapping and Passing the Ball

  • Changed Rule 7-1-6 Handing the Ball Forward (The Scrimmage)

Rule 12: Instant Replay

  • Changed Rule 12-3-8 Reviewable Fouls (Reviewable Plays)

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).