2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The following rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for the 2022 season.[2]

• In games featuring instant replay, when players are disqualified for a targeting call in the second half or in overtime (which requires a carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the next scheduled game), an appeal process will be available to allow the National Coordinator of Officials (currently Steve Shaw) to review tapes of the targeting penalty for consideration of not requiring the player to sit out the first half of the following game.
• Injury timeouts awarded due to "deceptive actions" during a game will also be able to reviewed by the National Coordinator of Officials to determine what sanctions, if any, against teams who use this tactic, enforced at the conference or school level.
• Blocking below the waist will only be permitted inside the tackle box by lineman and stationary backs. Blocks below the waist outside of the tackle box are not allowed.
• Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will always carry an automatic first down. Previously automatic first downs on defensive holding were awarded if the quarterback attempted a pass.
• Codifying the rule change made shortly after the 2021 ACC Championship Game, ball carriers who simulate a feet-first slide will be declared down at that spot. This rule has informally been referred to as the "Kenny Pickett Rule".
• Uniform rules were changed to require the sock/leg covering to go from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, similar to the NFL rule.

• March 1 – The Sun Belt Conference released its 2022 football schedule. Notably, the schedule includes Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, schools that had announced their departure from Conference USA and were then in a dispute with C-USA regarding their departure date, with Marshall having sued C-USA. The SBC release did not mention the dispute or the possibility that the three schools would not be able to join for the 2022 season.[3]
• March 29 – C-USA and the three aforementioned schools reached a settlement that allowed said schools to join the SBC in July 2022.[4]

One school will play its first FBS season in 2022. James Madison will start a transition from Division I FCS in 2022, joining the Sun Belt Conference. As a full Sun Belt member, it will meet FBS scheduling requirements in the 2022 season, allowing it to be counted as an FBS opponent for scheduling purposes.[5] (Normally, this status would not be available until the second transitional season.)

Three other schools will join the Sun Belt from Conference USA in 2022. Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, while initially reported to be making said move in 2023, announced their intent to move in 2022. C-USA had insisted that all three were bound to that league through the 2022–23 school year. Following a brief legal dispute,[6] the parties reached a settlement allowing the schools to leave at the end of June.[4]

The 2022 season is expected to be the last for 12 FBS schools in their current conferences or as FBS independents:

In addition to James Madison, two other FCS schools will start transitions to FBS after the 2022 season. They will not join their future FBS conferences until 2023.

• Jacksonville State will leave the ASUN Conference for Conference USA.
• Sam Houston State will leave the Western Athletic Conference for C-USA.

This will be the first season for San Diego State at Snapdragon Stadium, replacing the since-demolished San Diego Stadium after playing at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson for two seasons in 2020 and 2021. The team will play their first game in the new stadium against the Arizona Wildcats on September 3, 2022.[7]

Rankings reflect the AP Poll entering each week.

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond will list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

This section lists instances of unranked teams defeating AP Poll-ranked teams during the season.

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Bowl game changes:

• The former Outback Bowl was renamed the Tampa Bay Bowl.[8]

• 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2022 NCAA Division II football season
• 2022 NCAA Division III football season
• 2022 NAIA football season