[1] UCF finished the season as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I FBS and defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl.

Auburn had defeated College Football Playoff national champion Alabama and runner-up Georgia during the season.

Points of emphasis this season include speeding up games by: Coastal Carolina is in the second year of its FBS transition.

Idaho and New Mexico State are playing their final seasons as football members of the Sun Belt Conference.

Idaho is also playing its last season at the FBS level; following the decision of the Sun Belt to not extend its football membership agreements with the two schools after their expirations in 2017, Idaho announced that it would downgrade to FCS and add football to its standing membership in the Big Sky Conference.

Two schools opened new stadiums for the 2017 season: Several other schools plan to debut major improvements to their existing venues for 2017: Two schools announced naming rights deals for their stadiums: During the official Week 1 (as usual, held the weekend before Labor Day), several neutral-site "kickoff weekend" games were held, in addition to a full slate of games held at home stadiums around the U.S.: Rankings reflect the AP Poll.