2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season

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2020 NCAA Division I FBS season
Number of teams	128[a]
Duration	September 3, 2020[1] – December 19, 2020[b]
Preseason AP No. 1	Clemson
Postseason
Duration	December 21, 2020 – January 11, 2021
Bowl games	26[c]
AP Poll No. 1	Alabama
Coaches Poll No. 1	Alabama
Heisman Trophy	DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
College Football Playoff
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship
Site	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida
Champion(s)	Alabama
NCAA Division I FBS football seasons
← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision, it began on September 3, 2020.

The season was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States; all of the Power Five conferences initially announced plans to play a fall football season beginning on August 29, but greatly reducing non-conference games to limit the extent of interstate travel. The ACC, Big 12, and SEC, as well as several other Group of Five conferences, began their seasons in September (though with some conferences delaying their start, and all "Week 0" kickoff games were scratched due to the aforementioned restrictions on non-conference play), while independent Notre Dame agreed to play a full conference schedule with the ACC. ^[2]

In August, the Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC, Mountain West, and several independents announced that they would delay their football seasons indefinitely due to concerns regarding the pandemic, targeting the possibility of playing in the spring of 2021 instead. By late September, however, the four conferences had reversed their decisions and announced plans to play shortened seasons.

Aside from all-star games, the post-season concluded on January 11, 2021, with the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida; this was the seventh season of the College Football Playoff championship system. Some post-season activities, including the final CFP rankings and the Heisman Trophy nominations, were delayed to provide flexibility for conferences to finish delayed seasons in mid-December. Several bowl games were canceled due to recommendations by local health officials, or because they were unable to secure teams after multiple programs opted out of bowl games due to COVID-19 concerns. Additionally due to COVID-19, the Rose Bowl was played outside of Pasadena, California for the first time since 1942, while the New Mexico Bowl was played in Frisco, Texas.

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