2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season


The 2012 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.
The regular season began on August 30, 2012 and ended on December 8, 2012. The postseason concluded on January 7, 2013 with the BCS National Championship Game, where Alabama repeated as national champions by defeating Notre Dame.
Although Ohio State finished the regular season as the only undefeated team from an automatic-qualifying BCS conference, they were ineligible to play in the postseason due to sanctions imposed earlier in the year.

Rule changes

The NCAA Rules Committee approved the following rule changes for the 2012 season, mostly for safety reasons:

Membership changes

The following list includes schools transitioning from FCS to FBS.
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference
Fresno StateWACMountain West
HawaiiWACMountain West
MassachusettsCAA MAC
MissouriBig 12SEC
NevadaWACMountain West
South AlabamaFCS IndependentSun Belt
TCUMountain WestBig 12
TempleMACBig East
Texas A&MBig 12SEC
Texas StateSouthland WAC
UTSAFCS IndependentWAC
West VirginiaBig EastBig 12

On March 7, Temple was admitted back into the Big East Conference after having been expelled from it a decade earlier for failing to maintain a competitive football program. Temple joined from the Mid-American Conference, where it had competed since 2007.

Teams transitioning to FBS

On April 9, 2012, Georgia State University, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, announced that it would rejoin the Sun Belt Conference effective in July 2013. Georgia State had been a charter Sun Belt member when the conference formed in 1976, but left in 1981. The Panthers began their FBS transition during the 2012 season and started playing a full Sun Belt schedule upon joining the conference in 2013. Full FBS membership, along with bowl eligibility, followed in 2014. The Panthers, who had been coached by Bill Curry since starting a football program in 2010, played home games at the Georgia Dome near the school's campus in downtown Atlanta. The Panthers remained at the Georgia Dome until its closure and demolition after the 2016 season; they have since taken over the venue formerly known as Centennial Olympic Stadium and Turner Field and converted it into the football-specific Georgia State Stadium.
Georgia State followed four other schools that were in the second and final years of FBS transitions— UMass, South Alabama Texas State, and UTSA.

Future changes

The conference realignment period that began in 2010 continued for a third consecutive off-season.
The Mountain West Conference continued to raid the rapidly-collapsing Western Athletic Conference by adding San Jose State and Utah State on May 4. The additions allowed the Mountain West, which was anticipating the looming departures of Boise State and San Diego State to the Big East, to keep its football membership at ten teams for the 2013 season.
On September 12, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced the addition of Notre Dame in all sports except football. Under the agreement, Notre Dame's football team would play five games against ACC opponents per season but remain classified an FBS independent, while its other sports would be fully integrated into the ACC. The arrangement is effectively a stronger version of the affiliation Notre Dame had had with the Big East since 1995.
The Big Ten Conference, having already added Nebraska in 2011, admitted two more schools to expand the conference's geographic footprint to the East Coast. Maryland, coming from the ACC, was announced as the 13th member on November 19, followed by Rutgers of the Big East as the 14th member on November 21. Both moves would take effect during the 2014–15 academic year.
To keep its football membership at an even number, the ACC added Louisville on November 28 as a replacement for departing Maryland.

Updated stadiums

Expanded stadiums

Conference summaries

Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.

Conference championship games

Other conference champions

* Received conference's automatic BCS bowl bid.

Final BCS rankings

Bowl Championship Series

Other bowl games

Bowl Challenge Cup standings

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.
PlayerSchoolPosition1st2nd3rdTotal
Johnny ManzielTexas A&MQB4742521032029
Manti Te'oNotre DameLB3213091251706
Collin KleinKansas StateQB60197320894
Marqise LeeUSCWR193384207
Braxton MillerOhio StateQB32977144

Other major awards

Quarterback

Records

This list is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2012. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2012, see 2011 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.

Preseason and in-season

End of season

TV ratings

Most watched regular season games in 2012

Note: Games rate in the top six most watched games of the last 20 years.
Note: Rankings reflect AP Poll Standings.