Do not message the moderators until you have read this in full. Doing so could prolong your ban. In particular before messaging please note:

• Warnings and Suspensions under 5 days will not be reviewed. We simply don't have the bandwidth, and for short suspensions you'll be back before you know it, so please do not message us.
• All removal and ban decisions are made independently. If you see someone breaking the rules, please report them using the report button, and do not engage. This will have no bearing on your outcome.
• It is your responsibility to tell us what you did wrong. If you can't figure out which of your comments/posts violated our rules, you may not be a good fit for this community.
• If your response to a suspension is to act victimized or blame others rather than accept responsibility, your suspension will be extended to ensure you have sufficient time to review and understand the rules.

If a rule is broken with intent, we often start with a suspension. This helps us meet the primary goal of quickly cleaning up posts that break the rules and preventing widespread rule violations.

If your ban is 5 or more days, you can appeal it following these steps. An appeal is a chance to have your ban reconsidered, but is not a guarantee.

1. Find which rule you may have violated by reading the /r/CFB Rules thoroughly

• Do not delete the offending post. Deleting your post makes it harder for moderators to figure out how to handle your specific case and may also make it look like you are hiding something. Deleting your offending post or comment may make your ban permanent.
• If you cannot figure out which rule you violated, continue to the next step anyway.

2. Fill out the appeal form here.

3. Wait for a moderator to reply

• We will review your appeal over the next 2-4 weeks.
• If your ban is lifted, you will be notified. Do not contact the moderators.
• If your ban remains, you will not be contacted. Do not contact the moderators.

Additional notes

• Do not beg or get angry. Just show that you understood why you were banned and be willing to work with us on not doing it again.
• We won't reply to every ban review request, especially if you were blatantly trolling or did something bad enough that we think you're an obvious risk for breaking the rules again.
• You may be muted from using modmail if your message is profane, harassing, an attempt to spam, etc.

If you are banned, you have probably broken the /r/CFB Rules (See above). There are three levels of corrective action that we can take:

1. Warning: A message from the moderators for minor offenses that alerts you of a rule violation.
2. Suspension: A temporary ban from the /r/CFB, after which you can return.
3. Ban: A permanent ban from /r/CFB.

Which action is applied to you is a function of the severity of the infraction, whether you are a repeat offender. Additionally, on high traffic days (particularly on game days) we tend to be less lenient simply because we lack the bandwidth to be gentle.

Warnings

A warning comes in the form of a message from /r/CFB, and is generally reserved for rule violations that are inadvertent or borderline. There are no specific penalties from a warning, but do note that if you get one there will be less leniency for future infractions. You are not guaranteed to receive a warning for your first offense, as these are given out under very specific conditions.

Suspensions

Suspensions are temporary bans, and are given out as a corrective measure to curb rule-breaking behavior. Suspensions are often given out as an official warning for blatant rule breaking. Bans disable commenting on or submitting to /r/CFB. If your suspension is under 5 days, it will not be reviewed. Longer suspensions may be reviewed if and only if you follow the instructions on this page. The length of your suspension is proportional to the severity of the infraction. If you are suspended we suggest cooling off and reflect on how you can change your posting habits to avoid running into problems again.

Bans

Permanent bans are issued on occasion to flagrant violators who are unlikely to be productive members of the community, generally limited to spammers, trolls, and repeat offenders. If the message you receive does not say it is temporary, then it is permanent. It is rare that we lift a permanent ban, but you may apply for clemency by following the directions below.

Bans are reviewed exclusively in Moderator Mail. We won't discuss bans in private messages, nor publicly on the subreddit. Attempting to discuss your ban in any other place (via PM or by making another account to post on the subreddit) will work against you.

Modmail is a semi-private forum that all moderators can view. All official /r/CFB moderation discussions and decisions, including bans, are handled by the moderators as a team. Reviewing bans in modmail where all moderators can see it promotes transparency and allows all moderators to weigh in on a situation as needed.

Modmail is not like other types of messages on Reddit, so if you have never had a conversation in modmail before, here are some screenshots to show you what it looks like:

• What modmail looks like to a mod
• What modmail looks like from the "all" tab of your inbox

To begin a conversation in modmail, simply respond to the message you were sent informing you that you were banned. If you were not banned and you want to talk to the us anyway, or you cannot find the ban message in your inbox, you can always just message us directly using the "Message the Moderators" link in the sidebar. If you get responses from multiple moderators, it is not necessary to reply to each of them. A response sent to one moderator can be seen by all the moderators.

The following is a list of bad ways to react to getting banned. These reduce the chances of an appeal and increase the chances of a permanent ban

Deleting offending post(s).

• Deleting your post or comments makes it harder for us to figure out how to handle your specific case and may also make it look like you are hiding something.
• Your post has already been removed (hidden from view on the subreddit) by the mods, so deleting it does nothing but hide evidence.
• We often make a record of posts and comments that result in bans, so there is not much point in lying about what you posted.

Rules-lawyering

• Don't spend time trying to poke holes in the sub's rules or the reasons given for your ban. We are unlikely to reverse a ban just because someone has found a "loophole."
• If you're genuinely confused about the reason and want an explanation, it is fine to ask (politely!), but trying to weasel out of it on a technicality is a waste of everyone's time.

Pointing toward others' behavior as an excuse

• Please report any/all posts that you find which break the subreddit rules, chances are they're still there because a mod has not seen them yet. We aren't omniscient and we can't read everything - we rely on the users to help us find bad posts.
• All bans are handled independently on a case-by-case basis. Just because someone else broke a rule doesn't make it OK.

Insulting the Mods, Rules, or Other Users

• There are polite ways to disagree.
• The rules are what they are. You are allowed to not like them, but you are still required to follow them.
• If you're rude to us, we're not required to be polite back. We are volunteers and aren't being paid to tolerate abuse.

Playing the Victim

• If you have been banned it is because you have broken the rules, not because the mods have a personal vendetta against you or your team.
• All mod decisions and discussions are held transparently between all mods.
• Acting like you are being persecuted is not a good sign that you understand the rules and will not break them again.
• Complaining about your ban in another subreddit is also a very bad sign to us.

Sending a Private Message to Individual Mods

• All mod decisions are made in the open in modmail, as a team.

Spamming Modmail

• Please respond to the same string of messages instead of creating a new one each time you need to reply. When in doubt, you can always reply to the original ban message you received.
• Allow the mods a reasonable amount of time (8-12 hours) to respond to your post before sending another message. We may be having a discussion internally before we reply to you.
• Do not send repeated messages complaining about the ban. Spamming modmail and making it difficult for us to manage is a sitewide infraction, and has in the past resulted in a sitewide ban from reddit. We will not hesitate to report people who do this to the reddit admins for harassment.

Create Another Account to Avoid the Ban

• Ban dodging / evasion is against reddit rules, and can also result in a sitewide ban.

You said mods don't warn people in threads, so why do I see them warning people sometimes?

When the subreddit is not very busy, or all is quiet on the moderating front, mods will sometimes take the time to explain the warning publicly instead of banning. Public warnings are also given in some instances where moderators feel a more visible reminder of the rules could benefit other people in addition to the user they are directly responding to (as a sort of PSA).

You guys haven't responded to me about my ban. What gives?

We're not so busy that we don't see most modmail that comes in fairly quickly. If you haven't gotten a response for a while, one of these things might be in play:

1. The mods aren't around. There's not always someone watching modmail. If you send a message late at night, for example, be patient until at least the next day.
2. The mods are busy. If it's gameday, or some other major event is happening, we might be tied up in that and unable to respond right away. Keep this in mind and try to be patient.
3. The mods are discussing your ban internally. If you have been banned before, or your case is more than just a simple flamebait comment or something, we might be talking about how to deal with your case before letting you know.
4. The mods are ignoring you. If you did something that was pretty obviously malicious, then we will probably ignore requests to review your ban. We reserve the right to do this for any ban where we think it is justified, and for any temp ban of 2 days or less (see Temporary bans section above).

Shadowbans

Shadowbans are a sitewide disciplinary action from Reddit that makes it impossible for others to see your posts. The /r/CFB Mods have no control over this, and your only recourse is messaging the reddit admins.

I read the rules and this policy, but I don't know what I did wrong.

If this is really the case, reply to your ban message and let us know. If you're honestly confused, we'll usually be willing to explain things for you.

Minimum Participation	You need to participate as a commenter in the subreddit first before posting, so that you can best get a feel for sub dynamics, culture, and rules.
Posts that have their own weekly thread	If there is already a weekly thread for a particular type of content, please keep that content in that thread. For example, image highlights belong in the weekly Image/Video/GIF thread, and during the season posts about realignment belong as a top level comment in the weekly realignment thread. You can find the Weekly Schedule here.
Reposts	Make a good-faith effort to check whether or not the exact content you want to post has already been posted.
Under 2 Sentences	All text-only posts must have a minimum of 2 sentences.
Simple Questions	Any questions easily answered by the first result on Google.
More than 3 posts per day	To keep spam down, we limit users to three posts per day. This includes recruiting posts. Please follow the recruiting guidelines as listed in the "Recruiting Post Rules" section.
Anything not CFB-related	Direct posts that aren't college football-related to /r/CFBOffTopic.
NSFW content	Unless it is 100%, absolutely, directly related to CFB and clearly labeled, no NSFW content.
News about the NFL and other former players	News about a player leaving a team is relevant to /r/CFB. This includes declaring for the NFL draft, being drafted, or signing with a team as an UDFA immediately following the NFL draft. Any further news about a player who is not on a college football team is not relevant to /r/CFB. Exceptions are allowed if the news is focused on their time at the school as a player or otherwise relevant to college football in the present. Exceptions are also allowed for significant life events such as death, diagnosis of a terminal illness or other similar significant news regarding former players and coaches.
Streaming Links	Do not link to illegal stream sites. In addition, any links in comments or posts to full games will be removed.
Images, gifs, streamables	All link posts just to images, gifs, Streamables, and similar, will be removed automatically. This applies to imgur and other image hosts. You may submit them as self posts ("Submit Text") providing context for discussion, or preferably as comments in related threads. We often have official threads that are a more appropriate forum for these.
Memes/AI	Image macros, meme content, and AI-generated images and text are not allowed. Post them to /r/cfbmemes instead.
Copycat Posts	Posts that copy other posts without sufficient novelty will be considered memes and removed.
Editoralized titles	If you're posting a link to another site, and want to let your opinion about it be known, post the link and put your opinion in the comments. Don't editorialize the title.
Team/Fanbase attack Threads	Negative news and editorials are allowed, but discussion threads designed specifically to put down other teams or fan bases are not allowed. This includes examples such as "Which fanbase is most delusional" and "Which team do you irrationally hate".
No link shortener URLs	This includes URLs from t.co, tinyurl, ow.ly, bit.ly, youtu.be, goo.gl, etc. Some types of shortened URLs such as Google Maps links or youtu.be links are generally OK in comments, but avoid them where possible. Link shorteners are unnecessary for posts, and comments should use markdown instead.
Word-for-word pasting of paywall content	To avoid copyright issues, posts and comments that contain word-for-word copies of paywalled content (including, but not limited to, sites like The Athletic, On3, 247/Rivals, etc.) will be removed. Writing your own article summary or list (in the case of "top ten" or ranking articles) is acceptable.
Old or out of date articles	We allow posts about college football history. We generally do not allow posts or reposts of out of date, older articles as new news. Please check the date of the link you are submitting before submitting it. Self posts containing links to past articles are acceptable so long as they provide context for why the article is relevant.
Posts asking about /r/CFB itself	Posts concerning /r/CFB itself rather than college football are not allowed and should be posted to /r/CFBMeta instead. Questions about specific moderation decisions should be asked in modmail.
Research without Approval	If you are doing research for a university class or degree you must (1) have IRB approval or equivalent cleared with appropriate people at the university and the mod team, (2) message the mods before posting, and (3) abide by all other rules of the subreddit.
Buy/Sell/Trade Posts	Do not make posts requesting purchases, sales or trades for any goods or services. We're not Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. This rule is to protect our users from potential scams and prevent the sub from turning into a virtual garage sale.
Unsourced Statements	Any text posts that are rumors or statements of fact must have a linked source in the submission text.

Posts about recruits, transfers, and the draft must follow the following rules for title and content. These are pretty strict, especially on title, to help other users find your posts for the players they are interested. Posts generated with the Recruiting Post Generator will be correctly formatted.

• These all must be self-posts and include the required information. You can add additional relevant information there If you so choose or in the comments.
• Rumors as standalone posts will not be approved (they are welcome as comments in other threads).
• Sources - Your sources for commitment must be reliable. In order for a source to be considered trustworthy, information must come from the recruit himself, a school official (such as a SID or coach), or a legitimate news source staking their journalistic reputation on that reporting. Tweets from family members do not count.

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Commitments

New Recruits: Commitments and Decommitments

• To use the recruiting post generator correctly, you will need:
  • The player's name
  • The school the player is comitting to or decommitting from
  • A link to the player's 247 page or On3 page.
  • A link to the source of the news.
  • No additional information can be added to the title beyond what is detailed below. Do not add the player's high school, previous schools of interest, etc. to the title. You may optionally add other information to the body of the post or a comment.
• Title - Year Star Position Name commits to School / Year Star Position Name decommits from School.
  • Commitment Example: 2018 5* QB John Smith commits to Harvard.
  • Decommitment Example: 2018 5* QB John Smith decommits from Harvard.
• Content
  • (1) A link to the recruit's 247 page or On3 page. The stars in the post title should match either the 247 Composite rating or On3 Composite rating at the time you post. Either of these are acceptable choices and the poster may submit at their discretion if they differ. An unrated recruit should be listed as "Unranked".
  • (2) A source for the commitment news. This could be the 247 page, but should be stated explicitly.
• Notes
  • An unrated recruit should be listed as "Unranked".
  • Special Teams players can instead use the star rating from a trusted STs recruiting service or STs page. Include this link in place of 247/On3.

New Recruits: Flips

• Title Option 1 - Year Star Position Name Decommits from School 1 and commits to School 2
  • Example: 2020 5* QB Gerry Dorsey decommits from Harvard and commits to Yale.
• Title Option 2 - Year Star Position Name flips from School 1 to School 2
  • Example: 2020 5* QB Gerry Dorsey flips from Harvard to Yale.
• Content
  • (1) A link to the recruit's 247 page or On3 page.
  • (2) A source for the commitment news. If the 247 page is the source, you must say that.

JUCO

• Title Option 1 - Year JUCO Star Position Name commits to School
  • Example: 2018 JUCO 4* LS Zingelbert Bembledack commits to Florida
• Title Option 2 - Year JUCO School Name Star Position Name commits to Non-JUCO School.
  • Example: 2018 JUCO East Mississippi 4* LS Zingelbert Bembledack commits to Florida.
• Content
  • (1) A link to the recruit's 247 page or On3 page.
  • (2) A source for the commitment news. If the 247 page is the source, you must say that.

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Transfers

• Title Option 1 - OldSchool Position Name to transfer
  • Example: Penn State WR Yingybert Dambleban to transfer
• Title Option 2 - OldSchool Position Name transfers to NewSchool
  • Example: Penn State WR Yingybert Dambleban transfers to Alabama
• Title Option 3 - OldSchool Position Name grad transfers to NewSchool
  • Example: Penn State WR Yingybert Dambleban grad transfers to Alabama
• Content
  • (1) A source for the transfer news that is or cites the player themselves or a named coach or university official.
  • (2) If you want, you may also add addition information like a link to their 247 page or some information about why they are transferring.
  • (3) For players who are grad transfers, you can optionally include 'grad transfers' in the title.

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Portal / Draft

Portal

• Title - Team Position Player has entered the Portal
  • Example: Iowa RB Wingelbert Humptyback has entered the Portal
• Content
  • (1) A reliable source that the player has entered the Portal.
  • (2) Note: if the player has fully transferred and there is already a transfer post for that player, you cannot post a portal entry post for them.

I'm Staying

• Title - Position Player is staying with Team
  • Example: TE Kringelbert Fishtybuns is staying with MIT
• Content
  • (1) A reliable source that the player is staying with Team.
  • (2) Staying posts are for players who have entered the Portal or have been rumored to enter the Portal. Not for recruits.
  • (3) Staying posts are also allowed for players who might have gone to the NFL draft, but are chosing to stay.

NFL Draft

• Title -Team Position Player has declared for the Draft.
  • Example: Oklahoma OT Fishlegs Ingerman has declared for the draft
• Content
  • (1) A reliable source that the player has declared for the Draft.

Praise Portal!