Top Tier

These are IN and the top 10 who are OUT.

Top 81 teams (all P4 + Notre Dame + 10 best-of-the-rest)

ACC (17)

Boston College
California
Clemson
Duke
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami (FL)
NC State
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
SMU
Stanford
Syracuse
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

Big Ten (18)

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oregon
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
UCLA
USC
Washington
Wisconsin

Big 12 (16)

Arizona
Arizona State
Baylor
BYU
Cincinnati
Colorado
Houston
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas Tech
UCF
Utah
West Virginia

SEC (16)

Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Mississippi State
Missouri
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt

Notre Dame (1)

Notre Dame

Subtotal so far: 17 + 18 + 16 + 16 + 1 = 68

10 strongest non-P4 adds (to reach 81)

Boise State (MWC)
Tulane (AAC)
Memphis (AAC)
UTSA (AAC)
Air Force (MWC)
Fresno State (MWC)
San Diego State (MWC)
Liberty (C-USA)
Appalachian State (Sun Belt)
Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt)

Total = 68 + 10 = 78

Missing 3 to make it exactly 81 (next best “tier-2 G5” by results + commitment)

Wyoming (MWC)
Troy (Sun Belt)
James Madison (Sun Belt)

Top 81 programs

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Next 10 programs most likely to be eliminated first (82–91)

These skew toward lower athletic budgets / thinner rosters + sustained losing (budget is a proxy, not perfect). Knight Newhouse Data

Akron (MAC)
Kent State (MAC)
UMass (MAC)
Ball State (MAC)
Eastern Michigan (MAC)
UTEP (C-USA)
FIU (C-USA)
New Mexico (MWC)
Nevada (MWC)
Hawaii (MWC)

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Army & Navy are not in the list

So, Army and Navy are not in the top flight list. But, Air Force is present.

Humm.