2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season is the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) in 2018. The regular season will begin on August 30, 2018 and is scheduled to end on December 8, 2018. The postseason (aside from all-star games that will follow) will conclude on January 7, 2019 with the College Football Playoff National Championship in Santa Clara. This is the fifth season of the College Football Playoff championship system.

The following rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for the 2018 season:

1 - Allow players to fair catch the ball inside the 25 yard line on a kickoff and be awarded a touchback, placing the ball at the 25 yard line.
2 - Offensive players cannot block below the waist more than five yards past the line of scrimmage and, with the exception of interior linemen, all blocks below the waist must be from the front.
3 - The play clock will be set to 40 seconds between a touchdown and the PAT or two-point conversion and after a kickoff.
4 - Mirroring the NFL rule adopted in the 2010 season, a 10-second runoff will be applied within the final minute of each half if a replay review overturns the call on the field.

5 - As with any other 10 second runoff, teams can take a time out (if available) to avoid the runoff.
6 - Extending the "no leaping" rule on PATs and field goals adopted in the 2017 season to include the "shield" on a punt.
7 - Allowing penalties incurred on successful field goals to be enforced on the ensuing kickoff, same as is done for successful extra point attempts.
8 - Continuing the experiment of a collaborative instant replay decision making model not confined to the press box.