17.11.5 End of Playing Season. [FBS/FCS] A member institution's last contest (game or scrimmage) with outside competition in football shall not be played after the second Saturday or the following Sunday in December, except for the following: (Revised: 1/11/89, 1/10/90, 1/10/91, 1/10/92, 1/16/93, 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97, 8/5/99, 4/27/06, 12/15/06, 11/1/07 effective 8/1/08, 10/28/10, 10/27/11 effective 4/1/12, 6/8/15)

(a) Spring Practice Scrimmage. One scrimmage or contest at the conclusion of spring practice, provided the game is with a team composed of bona fide alumni or students or both; and

(b) Postseason Games, NCAA and NAIA Championships, International Competition and Celebration Bowl. Permissible postseason games that meet the requirements of Bylaw 18.7 and the NCAA postseason football handbook or those games played in the Division I Football Championship; football contests played on a foreign tour certified by the member institution; or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics football championships. In championship subdivision football only, a member institution's last contest also may include participation in the Celebration Bowl.