The postseason concluded on January 12, 2015, with the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 2014 season marked a major change to the postseason with the introduction of the College Football Playoff, a four-team knockout tournament to determine the national champion of Division I FBS.

Ohio State beat Oregon to claim the first ever FBS (formerly Division I-A) national title awarded using a playoff system.

[5] Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion moved from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to FBS.

[6] The three schools that moved from FCS to FBS this season use existing on-campus stadiums: Rankings reflect the AP Poll.

CFP College Football Playoff participant * On July 22, 2016, Georgia Southern announced that it had been ordered by the NCAA to vacate two wins from the 2013 season and one win from the 2014 season as punishment for fielding academically ineligible student athletes during those games.

The ruling does not affect Georgia Southern's 2014 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship.

‡ – Idaho was ineligible for postseason play due to an insufficient Academic Progress Rate.