The rules
How the empire map works
The college football empire map turns every game into a fight for territory. Every county in the country belongs to a school. Win, and you take your opponent's land. By the end of the season, a handful of empires hold the whole map.
The starting map
Before the season, every one of the 3,142 counties in the United States belongs to the nearest FBS school, measured as a straight line from the middle of the county to campus. Schools in big, empty regions start with huge empires; schools packed close together start small.
Win the game, take the land
When a team beats a team that holds land, it takes everything the loser holds. Lose your only game against a land-holding team and your empire can change hands in one afternoon. A team with no land can win it all back by beating a team that has some. Games between two teams with no land move nothing.
Every game counts
Regular season, conference championships, bowls and the College Football Playoff all move land. FCS teams that beat a land-holding FBS team take its land too. Results are applied in the order the games finish, so a late game on Saturday can undo an early one. During game days the map updates about every 15 minutes.
How empires are measured
Empires are ranked by land: the area of the counties they hold, in square miles, from Census county boundaries. Alaska counts at full size, which is why holding it matters. Counties held and the people living in them (Census population estimates) are shown alongside, and the live map can switch between all three.
Where the results come from
Schedules and scores come from CollegeFootballData.com and are checked every 15 minutes on game days and again every morning. The whole season is replayed from the starting map whenever a result changes, so the map always matches the official results.
Leagues
Draft schools with friends and your empire is everything your schools hold on the real map. Start a free league.