College Football Team Penalty Yards Rankings

Penalty yards count yards assessed against a team for accepted penalties. Last updated

What Are Penalty Yards?

Penalty yards count yards assessed against a team for accepted penalties. This table ranks college football teams for the selected season and displays the applicable minimum qualifier where one is used.

Which teams have the fewest penalty yards in college football in 2026?

Notre Dame has the fewest penalty yards in college football at 206, through games played October 29, 2026. Rutgers is second at 207 & Fresno State third at 217. One yard separates Notre Dame from second place, & 139 yards separate it from the 25th-ranked team.

Only 59 yards separate first from tenth. North Carolina is fourth at 222 & Army fifth at 245. Kansas State & Temple are tied for sixth at 261. Colorado State is eighth at 264. Indiana & Illinois are tied for ninth at 265.

Three separate ranks inside the top 25 are shared by more than one team. South Florida is 11th at 272, Navy 12th at 275, Charlotte 13th at 298, Arizona State 14th at 302 & Penn State 15th at 309. Iowa State & UL Monroe are tied 16th at 325.

Eight teams sit inside 15 yards of each other from 16th to 23rd, the tightest stretch of the ranking. Western Kentucky is 18th at 326, Ohio 19th at 328, Michigan State 20th at 333, Air Force 21st at 334, Kentucky 22nd at 335, NC State 23rd at 340, UCF 24th at 344 & Iowa 25th at 345.

How this ranking is measured

These 25 are drawn from 138 FBS teams ranked in the 2026 regular season, ranked lowest first. Penalty yards count yards assessed against a team for accepted penalties. Only FBS teams are ranked. Figures are as of October 29, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.