2014–15 NCAA football bowl games
The 2014–15 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football bowl games. They completed the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and included 39 team-competitive games and four all-star games. The games began on December 20, 2014 and, aside from the all-star games, ended with the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship which was played on January 12, 2015.[1]
| 2014–15 NCAA football bowl games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regular season | August 30, 2014 – December 13, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of bowls | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All-star games | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl games | December 20, 2014 – January 12, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Championship | 2015 College Football Playoffs National Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location of Championship | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champions | Ohio State Buckeyes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Challenge Cup winner | Conference USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A new record total of 39 team-competitive bowl games were played, including the national championship game and the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, Camellia Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl and Bahamas Bowl. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the ninth consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. To fill the 76 available team-competitive bowl slots, a total of 13 teams (17% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—12 with a .500 (6-6) season and, for the third time in four years, a team with a sub-.500 (6-7) season.
Schedule
The schedule for the 2014–15 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5). The rankings used are the CFP rankings.[2]
Playoff
The 2014–15 postseason was the first to feature a College Football Playoff (CFP) to determine a national champion of Division I FBS college football. Four teams were selected by a 13-member committee to participate in a single-elimination tournament, whose semifinals were held at the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl as part of a yearly rotation of six bowls. Their winners advanced to the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[1]
| Semifinals | Championship | |||||||
| January 1 – Sugar Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans |
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| 1 | Alabama | 35 | ||||||
| 4 | Ohio State | 42 | January 12 – National Championship AT&T Stadium, Arlington | |||||
| 4 | Ohio State | 42 | ||||||
| January 1 – Rose Bowl Rose Bowl, Pasadena |
2 | Oregon | 20 | |||||
| 2 | Oregon | 59 | ||||||
| 3 | Florida State | 20 | ||||||
CFP bowl games and Championship Game
Starting with the 2014–15 postseason, six College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games will host two semifinal playoff games on a rotating basis—the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. The games will be played on two days, on or around January 1. The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship.[3][4] These six bowl games are also known as the New Year's Six.[5] All games will be televised by ESPN and broadcast on the radio by ESPN Radio.
Non-CFP bowl games
For the 2014–15 postseason, four new bowl games were added — the Camellia Bowl, Miami Beach Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, and Bahamas Bowl — bringing the total number of bowl games to 39.[6] Additionally, the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was replaced by the Quick Lane Bowl.[7]
Post College Football Playoff all-star games
| Date | Game | Site | Television | Participants | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 10 | Medal of Honor Bowl | Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC 2:30 pm |
NBCSN | National Team vs. American Team |
National 26 American 14 |
| Jan. 17 | East–West Shrine Game | Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 4:00 pm |
NFL Network | East Team vs. West Team |
East 19 West 3 |
| NFLPA Collegiate Bowl | StubHub Center Carson, CA 6:00 pm |
ESPN2 | National Team vs. American Team |
National 17 American 0 | |
| Jan. 24 | Senior Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 4:00 pm |
NFL Network | North Team vs. South Team |
North 34 South 13 |
Selection of the teams
CFP top 25 teams
On December 7, 2014, the 13-member College Football Playoff selection committee announced their final team rankings for the year.[8]
| Rank | Team | W–L | Conference and standing | Bowl game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 12–1 | SEC champions | Sugar Bowl |
2 | Oregon Ducks | 12–1 | Pac-12 champions | Rose Bowl |
3 | Florida State Seminoles | 13–0 | ACC champions | Rose Bowl |
4 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 12–1 | Big Ten champions | Sugar Bowl |
5 | Baylor Bears | 11–1 | Big 12 co-champions | Cotton Bowl Classic |
6 | TCU Horned Frogs | 11–1 | Big 12 co-champions | Peach Bowl |
7 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | 10–2 | SEC Western Division second place | Orange Bowl |
8 | Michigan State Spartans | 10–2 | Big Ten East Division second place | Cotton Bowl Classic |
9 | Ole Miss Rebels | 9–3 | SEC Western Division third place | Peach Bowl |
10 | Arizona Wildcats | 10–3 | Pac-12 South Division champions | Fiesta Bowl |
11 | Kansas State Wildcats | 9–3 | Big 12 third place | Alamo Bowl |
12 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 10–3 | ACC Coastal Division champions | Orange Bowl |
13 | Georgia Bulldogs | 9–3 | SEC Eastern Division second place | Belk Bowl |
14 | UCLA Bruins | 9–3 | Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Alamo Bowl |
15 | Arizona State Sun Devils | 9–3 | Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Sun Bowl |
16 | Missouri Tigers | 10–3 | SEC Eastern Division champions | Citrus Bowl |
17 | Clemson Tigers | 9–3 | ACC Atlantic Division second place | Russell Athletic Bowl |
18 | Wisconsin Badgers | 10–3 | Big Ten West Division champions | Outback Bowl |
19 | Auburn Tigers | 8–4 | SEC Western Division fourth place (tie) | Outback Bowl |
20 | Boise State Broncos | 11–2 | Mountain West champions | Fiesta Bowl |
21 | Louisville Cardinals | 9–3 | ACC Atlantic Division third place | Belk Bowl |
22 | Utah Utes | 8–4 | Pac-12 South Division fifth place | Las Vegas Bowl |
23 | LSU Tigers | 8–4 | SEC Western Division fourth place (tie) | Music City Bowl |
24 | USC Trojans | 8–4 | Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Holiday Bowl |
25 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 8–4 | Big Ten West Division second place (tie) | Citrus Bowl |
Conference champions' bowl games
Three bowls featured two conference champions playing against each other—the Boca Raton Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Rankings are per the above CFP standings.
| Conference | Champion | W–L | Rank | Bowl game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | Florida State Seminoles | 13–0 | 3 | Rose Bowl |
| American† | Cincinnati Bearcats | 9–3 | — | Military Bowl |
| Memphis Tigers | 9–3 | — | Miami Beach Bowl | |
| UCF Knights | 9–3 | — | St. Petersburg Bowl | |
| Big Ten | Ohio State Buckeyes | 12–1 | 4 | Sugar Bowl |
| Big 12† | Baylor Bears | 11–1 | 5 | Cotton Bowl Classic |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 11–1 | 6 | Peach Bowl | |
| C-USA | Marshall Thundering Herd | 12–1 | — | Boca Raton Bowl |
| MAC | Northern Illinois Huskies | 11–2 | — | Boca Raton Bowl |
| Mountain West | Boise State Broncos | 11–2 | 20 | Fiesta Bowl |
| Pac-12 | Oregon Ducks | 12–1 | 2 | Rose Bowl |
| SEC | Alabama Crimson Tide | 12–1 | 1 | Sugar Bowl |
| Sun Belt | Georgia Southern Eagles | 9–3 | — | none‡ |
† denotes a conference that named co-champions
‡ Georgia Southern was not bowl-eligible, due to their transition from FCS to FBS
Bowl-eligible teams
- American (6): Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Temple, UCF
- ACC (11): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (FL), NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech
- Big 12 (7): Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia
- Big Ten (10): Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin
- Conference USA (7): Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State, Rice, UAB, UTEP, Western Kentucky
- Independents (3): BYU, Navy, Notre Dame
- MAC (6): Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
- Mountain West (7): Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State
- Pac-12 (8): Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
- SEC (12): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M
- Sun Belt (4): Arkansas State, Louisiana–Lafayette, South Alabama, Texas State
Number of bowl berths available: 76
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 81
Bowl-eligible teams that did not receive a berth
As there were more bowl-eligible teams than bowl berths, five bowl-eligible teams did not receive a bowl berth:
- Middle Tennessee (6–6)
- Ohio (6–6)
- Temple (6–6)
- Texas State (7–5)
- UAB (6–6)
Bowl-ineligible teams
- American (5): Connecticut, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, USF
- ACC (3): Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest
- Big Ten (4): Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue
- Big 12 (3): Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech
- Conference USA (6): FIU, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Old Dominion†, Southern Miss, UTSA
- Independents (1): Army
- MAC (7): Akron, Ball State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Massachusetts, Miami (OH)
- Mountain West (5): Hawai'i, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming
- Pac 12 (4): California, Colorado, Oregon State, Washington State
- SEC (2): Kentucky, Vanderbilt
- Sun Belt (7): Appalachian State†, Georgia Southern†, Georgia State, Idaho‡, Louisiana–Monroe, New Mexico State, Troy
Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 47
† – Appalachian State (7–5), Georgia Southern (9–3, Sun Belt champions), and Old Dominion (6–6) were conditionally eligible based on win–loss record. However, under FCS-to-FBS transition rules, they were not eligible because enough teams qualified under normal circumstances.
‡ – Idaho was ineligible for postseason play due to an insufficient Academic Progress Rate. However, the Vandals would not have been eligible without the ban, as they finished with a 1–10 record.
References
- "College Football Playoff 101", ESPN, May 19, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
- "2014–15 College Football Bowl Schedule – 2015 Playoff", FBSchedules.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- Wolken, Dan (April 25, 2013). "Questions and Answers for the College Football Playoff", USA Today. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- "Future Sites and Schedules" Archived 2014-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Playoff. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- Berkes, Peter (July 23, 2013). "College Football Playoff Bowls to Be Part of 'New Year's Six'", SB Nation. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- Huston, Chris. (October 7, 2013). "Report: Four New Bowl Games on Tap for 2014", NBC Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- "Detroit's Quick Lane Bowl to Feature ACC vs. Big Ten", USA Today, August 26, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- Conway, Taylor (December 7, 2014). "College Football Playoff 2014: Final Official Selection Committee Rankings", Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
Further reading
- Schlabach, Mark (January 16, 2015). "Elliott headlines All-Bowl team". ESPN. Retrieved January 10, 2019.