Although Ohio State finished the regular season as the only undefeated team from an automatic-qualifying ("Power 5") BCS conference, they were ineligible to play in the postseason due to sanctions imposed earlier in the year.

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.

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.

The Panthers began their FBS transition during the 2012 season and started playing a full Sun Belt schedule upon joining the conference in 2013.

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.

On September 12, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced the addition of Notre Dame in all sports except football.

To keep its football membership at an even number, the ACC added Louisville on November 28 as a replacement for departing Maryland.