The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016, and ended on December 10, 2016. The postseason concluded on January 9, 2017, with the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, where the Clemson Tigers defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide to claim their second national title in school history. The championship game was a rematch of the 2016 edition won by Alabama.
Rule changes The following rule changes were voted on by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2016 season:
Requiring replay officials to review all aspects of targeting penalties, including the option to call a targeting foul missed by the on-field officials if the foul is deemed egregious. After several hits during the early part of the season that resulted in concussions that should have been targeting, the NCAA Rules Committee reinforced this rule for replay officials and also clarified the "crown of the helmet" (to determine targeting penalties) as the area above the facemask to the dome of the helmet. Allowing electronic devices to be used for coaching purposes in the press box and locker room during the game. Electronic devices will still be prohibited on the field and sideline. Coaches can now be ejected after receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one game, the same as players. A ball carrier who "gives himself up" (e.g., by sliding) will now be considered a defenseless player. Deliberate tripping of a ball carrier with the leg is now a 15-yard penalty. Players who leave the tackle box are now prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the initial position of the ball. An exception to a rule introduced for the 2015 season regarding low hits to passers (i.e., at or below the knee) was eliminated. Previously, a defensive player would not have been penalized for such a hit if making a bona fide attempt at a tackle. Teams attempting a scrimmage kick (i.e., field goals, PATs, and punts) must have five offensive linemen (numbered 50–79) on the scrimmage line unless the kicking team has at least two players seven yards OR one player at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, only one player had to be lined up seven yards behind the line to avoid using five linemen, causing confusion in kick coverage on defense. The procedure for restarting the game clock following a penalty by the offense will change if the penalized team has a lead in the last two minutes of either half. Before this season, the game clock would have been restarted in this situation once the ball was declared ready for play; it now will not start until the ball is snapped.
The committee, once again, took no action on changing the ineligible receiver downfield rule from three yards to one yard; however it will once again be a "point of emphasis" and will adjust officiating mechanics to better officiate those plays.
Conference realignment
Membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conferenceUMass MAC FBS independent
Although Coastal Carolina began the transition process to FBS in the 2016 season and joined the Sun Belt Conference in non-football sports, it was officially classified as an FCS independent for this first season of the transition. Coastal Carolina became a provisional FBS member when the football team joined the Sun Belt in 2017, and full FBS membership and bowl eligibility followed in 2018.
Other headlines
March 1 – The Sun Belt Conference announced that its football-only membership agreements with Idaho and New Mexico State would not be renewed upon their expirations at the end of the 2017 season. March 3 - The NCAA Council forced the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team to vacate 22 wins from 2011-2014 including the 2011 and 2014 New Orleans Bowl championships after a finding that a previous assistant head coach had falsified ACT scores. Their penalty was the lowest penalty in NCAA Division I and the university did not receive a post-season ban. April 8 – The NCAA Division I Council voted to prohibit FBS schools from participating in or conducting so-called "satellite camps." The NCAA had already prohibited schools from hosting camps located more than from campus, but many coaches took advantage of a loophole that allowed them to participate in off-site camps as guest coaches. The new rule was reversed on April 28. April 11 – The Division I Council approved a three-year moratorium on new bowl games, following a season in which a record three teams with sub-.500 records made bowls. No new bowls were allowed until the 2019 season. This decision affected three games that were in the process of seeking NCAA certification for the 2016 season. April 28 The University of Idaho announced that the Vandals football team would return to the FCS Big Sky Conference, its all-sports league, effective with the 2018 season. The Vandals became the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS. The Division I Board of Directors rescinded the FBS satellite camp ban that had been approved less than three weeks earlier. The ban had sparked major controversy within several conferences, notably the Pac-12 (whose Division I Council representative voted for the ban despite 11 of the league's 12 members opposing it). Additionally, the ban was seen as having the unintended effect of limiting scholarship opportunities, especially at Group of Five schools, for a large number of high school prospects. September 10 - Arizona State running back Kalen Ballage scored 8 touchdowns in the Sun Devils' 68–55 win over Texas Tech, tying an NCAA record set in 1990 by Howard Griffith of Illinois against Southern Illinois. October 22 – The Oklahoma–Texas Tech game, won 66–59 by Oklahoma, saw several FBS single-game records broken or equaled: The teams combined for 1,708 yards of total offense (854 each), surpassing the previous FBS record of 1,640 set by San Jose State and Nevada in 2001. Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes' 819 yards of total offense broke the previous FBS record of 751 set in 2014 by Connor Halliday of Washington State. Mahomes also tied Halliday's FBS record of 734 passing yards. Oklahoma became the first FBS team ever with a 500-yard passer (Baker Mayfield), 200-yard rusher (Joe Mixon), and 200-yard receiver (Dede Westbrook) in a single game. November 9 – Georgia State University received final approval from the Georgia Board of Regents, the governing body of the state's university system, to purchase Turner Field, vacated by the Atlanta Braves after their 2016 season. The facility, originally the main stadium of the 1996 Olympics, was converted to a football stadium seating 23,000, with potential future expansion to 33,000. The football team ultimately began play at Turner Field, now known as Center Parc Stadium, in 2017 while the conversion project was ongoing. Scroll down to the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the page, which specifically addressed where the team would play in 2017. November 26 – Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse 76–61, with the two teams setting a new FBS record for combined points scored in a regulation game. The previous record had been set by Navy and North Texas in 2007.
Kickoff games
California and Hawaii played the first game of the 2016 season at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, on August 27. This was the first college football game in Oceania since 1985. California eased to a 51–31 win. Boston College and Georgia Tech played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on September 3, in a game billed as the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Georgia Tech scored a touchdown in the last minute to win 17–14. Wisconsin hosted LSU at the first-ever Division I FBS game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, also on September 3. The Badgers surprised the No. 5 Tigers 16–14. AP reporter Genaro Armas wrote that the loss, the first in a season opener for Les Miles in his 12 seasons at LSU, "will surely put Miles back on the hot seat after he was nearly run out of Baton Rouge after a 9–3 season in 2015." Houston met Oklahoma at NRG Stadium in Houston on September 3 in the Texas Kickoff, a game with major College Football Playoff significance as a virtual elimination game for Houston as a CFP contender. The Cougars are members of the "Group of Five" American Athletic Conference, but were coming off a convincing win over Florida State in last season's Peach Bowl. The game was also played against the backdrop of potential Big 12 Conference expansion, with Houston seen by many in the media as a leading Big 12 candidate. The Cougars won 33–23. North Carolina and Georgia played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on September 3, in the annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Both teams entered the contest 0–1 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, with North Carolina losing to LSU in 2010 and Georgia falling to Boise State in 2011. In the debut for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs won 33–24, led by Nick Chubb, who ran for 222 yards and two touchdowns in his first game since tearing an ACL last season. USC and Alabama played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on September 3 in the Advocare Classic. Defending national champions Alabama blasted the Trojans 52–6, marking USC's worst loss since a 51–0 blowout by Notre Dame in 1966. Arizona and BYU played week 1 of the season at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 3 in the Cactus Kickoff. BYU won 18–16 on a field goal with 4 seconds left. Ole Miss and Florida State played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on September 5 in the Camping World Kickoff. Florida State, facing a 28–6 second-quarter deficit, scored 33 unanswered points and went on to win 45–34. Virginia Tech and Tennessee played at Bristol Motor Speedway near Bristol, Tennessee, on September 10 in a game billed as the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol. The game drew an announced crowd of 156,990, breaking the previous record for a college football game by more than 40,000. After trailing 14–0 at the end of the first quarter, Tennessee scored 31 unanswered points en route to a 45–24 win.
Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond will list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that fail to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.
Week 3 No. 10 Louisville defeated No. 2 Florida State 63–20 (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky) Week 5 No. 10 Washington defeated No. 7 Stanford 44–6 (Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington) No. 5 Clemson defeated No. 3 Louisville 42–36 (Clemson Memorial Stadium, Clemson, South Carolina) No. 4 Michigan defeated No. 8 Wisconsin 14–7 (Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan) Week 6 No. 8 Texas A&M defeated No. 9 Tennessee 45–38, 2OT (Kyle Field, College Station, Texas) Week 7 No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 9 Tennessee 49–10 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee) No. 2 Ohio State defeated No. 8 Wisconsin 30–23, OT (Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin) Week 8 No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 6 Texas A&M 33–14 (Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) Week 10 No. 6/6 Ohio State defeated No. 10/9 Nebraska 62–3 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) Week 12 No. 9/8 Oklahoma defeated No. 14/10 West Virginia 56–28 (Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Virginia) Week 13 No. 2/2 Ohio State defeated No. 3/3 Michigan 30–27, 2OT (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) Week 14 No. 4/4 Washington defeated No. 8/9 Colorado 41–10 (2016 Pac-12 Championship Game, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California) No. 7/8 Penn State defeated No. 6/6 Wisconsin 38–31 (2016 Big 10 Championship Game, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana)
Upsets