Roster geography · Updated with the roster feed

The punter pipeline

71 of the 138 teams in FBS — essentially half the sport — go into 2026 with an Australian punter on the roster. Australians hold 82 of the 292 punter spots in the country. No other country sends college football anything like the same player: Canada sends linemen, Ireland sends placekickers, and Australia sends punters by the planeload.

Teams with an Australian punter

71 of 138

Essentially half the sport goes into the season with an Australian handling the punting.

Australian share of punter spots

28%

Up from 6% in 2014, when they held 15 of 241.

Australians on FBS rosters

96

82 of them are punters. The other 14 are kickers, linemen and tight ends.

More than a quarter of the sport’s punters, in twelve years

In 2014 Australians held 15 of the 241 punter spots in FBS. They now hold 82 of 292. Nothing else on a college roster has been reallocated to one country this fast.

30%15%0%20142016201720182020202220262014: 15 of 241punter spots2017: 43 Australianpunters, up from 28in a single year2026: 82 of 292punter spots
Australian share of every punter on an FBS roster, by season. Share rather than a headcount, so the line is not moved by FBS growing from 127 teams to 138 over the same window. Source: CFB Zeitgeist · CFBD rosters.

The 82: every Australian punter, at all 71 programs

Every FBS program going into the season with an Australian listed at punter — and the man himself, with the hometown he punted his way out of. Melbourne alone accounts for 35 of the 96 Australians in FBS — more players than any country except Canada sends in total.

The other pipelines send other players

Australia sends specialists. Canada sends its 52 of 82 players into the trenches. Ireland and Northern Ireland between them send 13 placekickers — the same idea as the Australian punting academies, aimed at a different job. American Samoa, with a population smaller than a mid-sized American city, has 15 players in FBS and five of them at Hawai'i.

Canada

82 players

27 on the offensive line, 25 on the defensive line. Most come from Montreal (25).

syracuseSYRBiggest outpost: Syracuse (5)

Germany

32 players

11 on the offensive line, 7 on the defensive line. Most come from Cologne (6).

marshallMRSHBiggest outpost: Marshall (3)

England

25 players

9 on the defensive line, 9 on the offensive line. Most come from London (13).

floridaUFBiggest outpost: Florida (3)

American Samoa

16 players

7 on the offensive line, 6 on the defensive line. Most come from Pago Pago (8).

hawai-iHAWBiggest outpost: Hawai'i (5)

Ireland

16 players

10 placekickers. Most come from Dublin (3).

marylandUMDBiggest outpost: Maryland (2)

Nigeria

9 players

4 on the offensive line, 3 on the defensive line. Most come from Lagos (6).

arkansasARKBiggest outpost: Arkansas (1)

Every country on an FBS roster

All 33 countries with at least one player on a 2026 FBS roster, biggest delegation first.

#CountryPlayersTop positionsBiggest CFB outpostTop hometown
1Australia9682 punters
arizonaARIZArizona(3)
Melbourne (35)
2Canada8227 on the offensive line, 25 on the defensive line
syracuseSYRSyracuse(5)
Montreal (25)
3Germany3211 on the offensive line, 7 on the defensive line
marshallMRSHMarshall(3)
Cologne (6)
4England259 on the defensive line, 9 on the offensive line
floridaUFFlorida(3)
London (13)
5American Samoa · US territory167 on the offensive line, 6 on the defensive line
hawai-iHAWHawai'i(5)
Pago Pago (8)
6Ireland1610 placekickers
marylandUMDMaryland(2)
Dublin (3)
7Nigeria94 on the offensive line, 3 on the defensive line
arkansasARKArkansas(1)
Lagos (6)
8Sweden83 on the defensive line, 2 tight ends
boise-stateBSUBoise State(1)
Stockholm (5)
9Finland52 on the offensive line, 2 punters
kentuckyKYSKentucky(1)
Helsinki (3)
10New Zealand53 on the offensive line
coloradoCUColorado(1)
Auckland (4)
11Bahamas42 on the offensive line
akronAKRAkron(2)
Nassau (3)
12Mexico42 on the offensive line
boston-collegeBCBoston College(1)
Monterrey (2)
13France31 on the defensive line
new-mexicoUNMNew Mexico(1)
Bordeaux (1)
14Northern Ireland33 placekickers
alabamaALAAlabama(1)
Magherafelt (2)
15Austria21 placekicker
coastal-carolinaCCUCoastal Carolina(1)
Graz (1)
16Brazil21 placekicker
coastal-carolinaCCUCoastal Carolina(1)
Recife (1)
17Democratic Republic of Congo22 on the offensive line
arkansas-stateARSTArkansas State(1)
Kinshasa (2)
18Denmark21 on the offensive line
charlotteCLTCharlotte(1)
Bagsvaerd (1)
19Ghana22 on the defensive line
sam-houstonSHSUSam Houston(1)
Cape Coast (1)
20Italy21 on the defensive line
missouri-stateMOSTMissouri State(1)
Bergamo (1)
21Netherlands21 defensive back
boise-stateBSUBoise State(1)
Amersfoort (1)
22Spain22 placekickers
coastal-carolinaCCUCoastal Carolina(1)
Madrid (2)
23Tonga21 on the defensive line
oregon-stateORSTOregon State(1)
Haakame (1)
24Belgium11 running back
texas-techTTUTexas Tech(1)
Brussels (1)
25Congo11 on the defensive line
north-carolinaUNCNorth Carolina(1)
Kinshasa (1)
26Estonia11 tight end
old-dominionODUOld Dominion(1)
Tallin (1)
27Haiti11 on the defensive line
miamiMIAMiami(1)
Port-au-prince (1)
28Israel11 receiver
jacksonville-stateJXSTJacksonville State(1)
Karmiel (1)
29Japan11 placekicker
oregon-stateORSTOregon State(1)
Kawasaki (1)
30Northern Marianas · US territory11 on the offensive line
tennesseeTENTennessee(1)
Saipan (1)
31Russia11 on the offensive line
south-alabamaUSASouth Alabama(1)
Moscow (1)
32Senegal11 on the offensive line
boston-collegeBCBoston College(1)
Dakar (1)
33Serbia11 on the offensive line
kennesaw-stateKENNKennesaw State(1)
Indija (1)

Source: CFBD rosters for the 2026 season, joined to FBS teams only. International means the roster row carries a home_country outside the United States and its variants (USA / US / United States). Rows with a blank country are excluded entirely rather than counted either way — blank means the field was not recorded, not that the player is American. American Samoa and the Northern Marianas are US territories whose players are US nationals; they appear as their own rows because the source records them as distinct countries, and folding them into the United States would erase a real pipeline. Ireland and Northern Ireland are likewise listed as the source lists them, as two rows. The trend line is a share of all rostered punters, not a headcount, for two reasons: FBS itself grew from 127 teams to 138 across the window, and a raw count would fold that expansion into the story. Roster depth is stable across the whole period (112–125 players per team per season), so the rise is a real reallocation of punting jobs rather than an artifact of thinner coverage in the early seasons. One further caveat on the headline: the 292 figure counts punter roster spots — about two per team — not starting jobs, so “28% of punters” is a claim about who is on the roster, not about who runs out on fourth down.