CFB Tiebreaking Rules
The tiebreaking procedure each FBS conference uses to resolve ties in conference standings. Steps marked Skipped require scores or external rankings outside what a game-outcome picker can compute — the sequence falls through to the next step.
How tiebreakers work in the picker: Conference win % is the primary sort key.
Only teams with identical conference win % enter the tiebreaker sequence. Steps run in the
order shown below and stop as soon as one team separates from the group.
Big Ten
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 3 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 4 | Cumulative Conference Opponent Win % | Combined conference win % of all conference opponents each tied team faced. Teams whose collective opponents won more conference games advance. | Live |
| 5 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
SEC (Southeastern)
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 3 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 4 | Cumulative Conference Opponent Win % | Combined conference win % of all conference opponents each tied team faced. Teams whose collective opponents won more conference games advance. | Live |
| 5 | Capped Scoring Margin | Relative scoring margin, capped at 42 pts/game offense and 48 pts/game defense. Requires actual game scores — not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 6 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
ACC (Atlantic Coast)
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 3 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 4 | Cumulative Conference Opponent Win % | Combined conference win % of all conference opponents each tied team faced. Teams whose collective opponents won more conference games advance. | Live |
| 5 | SportSource Analytics Rating | Composite computer metric from SportSource Analytics. Proprietary — not available to this picker. | Skipped |
| 6 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Big 12
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 3 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 4 | Cumulative Conference Opponent Win % | Combined conference win % of all conference opponents each tied team faced. Teams whose collective opponents won more conference games advance. | Live |
| 5 | Total Wins (all games) | Total number of wins across all regular-season games, including non-conference. Unique to Big 12. | Live |
| 6 | SportSource Analytics Rating | Composite computer metric from SportSource Analytics. Proprietary — not available to this picker. | Skipped |
| 7 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
American Athletic (AAC)
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | CFP Committee Ranking | Ranking by the College Football Playoff selection committee. Not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 3 | Composite Computer Ratings | Average of multiple computer ranking systems. Requires external data — not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 4 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 5 | Overall Win % | Win % across all regular-season games (conference + non-conference). | Live |
| 6 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Conference USA
Borrowed sequence
Open Picker
Note: Most of Conference USA's official tiebreakers
(CFP committee ranking, composite computer ratings, Academic Progress Rate)
require external data this picker doesn't track. We substitute
American Athletic (AAC)'s implementable sequence as a sensible
default for a Group of 5 conference. The official sequence is shown
below for reference.
Implemented in this picker
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 3 | Overall Win % | Win % across all regular-season games (conference + non-conference). | Live |
| 4 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Conference USA's official sequence
Per the conference's published rulebook. Greyed steps are skipped by this picker because they need external data the picker doesn't track.
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | CFP Committee Ranking | Ranking by the College Football Playoff selection committee. Not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 3 | Composite Computer Ratings | Average of multiple computer ranking systems. Requires external data — not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 4 | Academic Progress Rate (APR) | NCAA Academic Progress Rate metric. Requires external data — not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 5 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
MAC (Mid-American)
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 3 | Cumulative Conference Opponent Win % | Combined conference win % of all conference opponents each tied team faced. Teams whose collective opponents won more conference games advance. | Live |
| 4 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Mountain West
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | CFP Committee Ranking | Ranking by the College Football Playoff selection committee. Not tracked by this picker. | Skipped |
| 3 | Overall Win % | Win % across all regular-season games (conference + non-conference). | Live |
| 4 | Common Conference Opponents (by finish order) | Record vs common conference opponents evaluated one at a time, starting from the highest-placed common opponent in the final standings. | Live |
| 5 | Common Conference Opponents (pooled) | Win % against conference opponents that all tied teams have faced — records combined into a single pool. | Live |
| 6 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Sun Belt
Implemented
Open Picker
Sequence
| Step | Rule | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Head-to-Head | Win % among the tied teams. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams in the tied group advance. | Live |
| 2 | Divisional Win % | Win % in games against teams in the same division. | Live |
| 3 | Next-Highest Common Opponent in Standings | Record vs the highest-placed team in conference standings that all tied teams have played. Iterates down through standings until a separation is found. | Live |
| 4 | Common Non-Divisional Conference Opponents | Win % against common conference opponents who are outside the tied teams' shared division. | Live |
| 5 | Overall Win % | Win % across all regular-season games (conference + non-conference). | Live |
| 6 | Coin Flip | Random draw — terminal fallback when no prior step separates the tied teams. | Live |
Mega Picker (cross-conference)
Partial
Open Picker
The Mega Picker is a cross-conference exhibition showing games from multiple FBS conferences in a single view. Because teams are drawn from different conferences, conference-specific tiebreakers do not apply. Ties are broken by overall win %, then strength of victory, then strength of schedule, then coin flip.
Tiebreaker rules sourced from each conference's official 2024+ tiebreaking policy documents. Steps requiring scores (capped scoring margin), proprietary metrics (SportSource Analytics, composite computer ratings), or committee selections (CFP rankings, APR) cannot be computed from game outcomes alone and fall through to the next step.