2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The following rules changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee for the 2023 season:[2]

• Mirroring the NFL rule adopted in the 2005 NFL season, teams may not call consecutive timeouts during a single dead ball period. Doing so results in a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Two 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 will join Conference USA in July 2023.[3]

Two other Independent schools, Liberty and New Mexico State, are joining Conference USA in 2023; those schools had respectively been full members of the ASUN and WAC.[3]

Six schools from Conference USA are joining the American Athletic Conference for the 2023 season—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA.[4] This follows 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, is joining the Big 12.[5]

The 2023 season is expected to be the last for four FBS teams in their current conferences:

In addition to Sam Houston and Jacksonville State, one other FCS school will start a transition to FBS in the 2023 season.[6]

• 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.

Rankings reflect the AP Poll entering each week.

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.

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

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

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.

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