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
Bowl record by conference Conference Bowls Record Final AP Poll SEC 12 7–5 (0.583) 6 Big Ten 11 6–5 (0.545) 3 ACC 11 4–7 (0.364) 4 Pac-12 9 6–3 (0.667) 6 Mountain West 7 3–4 (0.429) 1 Big 12 7 2–5 (0.286) 3 Conference USA 5 4–1 (0.800) 1 American 5 2–3 (0.400) 1 MAC 5 2–3 (0.400) 0 Independents 3 2–1 (0.667) 0 Sun Belt 3 1–2 (0.333) 0
←2013–14 Bowl game 2015–16→

A new record total of 39 team-competitive bowl games were played, including the national championship game and the inaugural 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
	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

This bracket:

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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.

Date	Game	Site	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 31	Peach Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA 12:30 pm	No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs (11–1) No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels (9–3)	Big 12 SEC	TCU 42 Ole Miss 3
	Fiesta Bowl	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ 4:00 pm	No. 20 Boise State Broncos (11–2) No. 10 Arizona Wildcats (10–3)	Mountain West Pac-12	Boise State 38 Arizona 30
	Orange Bowl	Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, FL 7:30 pm	No. 12 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10–3) No. 7 Mississippi State Bulldogs (10–2)	ACC SEC	Georgia Tech 49 Mississippi State 34
Jan. 1	Cotton Bowl Classic	AT&T Stadium Arlington, TX 1:00 pm	No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (10–2) No. 5 Baylor Bears (11–1)	Big Ten Big 12	Michigan State 42 Baylor 41
	Rose Bowl (Playoff Semifinal Game)	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA 5:00 pm	No. 2 Oregon Ducks (12–1) No. 3 Florida State Seminoles (13–0)	Pac-12 ACC	Oregon 59 Florida State 20
	Sugar Bowl (Playoff Semifinal Game)	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm	No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes (12–1) No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (12–1)	Big Ten SEC	Ohio State 42 Alabama 35
Jan. 12	College Football Playoff National Championship (Rose Bowl Winner vs. Sugar Bowl Winner)	AT&T Stadium Arlington, TX 8:30 pm	No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes (13–1) No. 2 Oregon Ducks (13–1)	Big Ten Pac-12	Ohio State 42 Oregon 20

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]

Date	Game	Site	Television	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 20	New Orleans Bowl	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 11:00 am	ESPN	Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (8–4) Nevada Wolf Pack (7–5)	Sun Belt Mountain West	Louisiana–Lafayette 16 Nevada 3
	New Mexico Bowl	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM 2:20 pm		Utah State Aggies (9–4) UTEP Miners (7–5)	Mountain West C-USA	Utah State 21 UTEP 6
	Las Vegas Bowl	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV 3:30 pm	ABC	No. 22 Utah Utes (8–4) Colorado State Rams (10–2)	Pac-12 Mountain West	Utah 45 Colorado State 10
	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID 5:45 pm	ESPN	Air Force Falcons (9–3) Western Michigan Broncos (8–4)	Mountain West MAC	Air Force 38 Western Michigan 24
	Camellia Bowl	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL 9:15 pm		Bowling Green Falcons (7–6) South Alabama Jaguars (6–6)	MAC Sun Belt	Bowling Green 33 South Alabama 28
Dec. 22	Miami Beach Bowl	Marlins Park Miami, Florida 2:00 pm		Memphis Tigers (9–3) BYU Cougars (8–4)	American Independent	Memphis 55 BYU 48 (2OT)
Dec. 23	Boca Raton Bowl	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, Florida 6:00 pm		Marshall Thundering Herd (12–1) Northern Illinois Huskies (11–2)	C-USA MAC	Marshall 52 Northern Illinois 23
	Poinsettia Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California 9:30 pm		Navy Midshipmen (7–5) San Diego State Aztecs (7–5)	Independent Mountain West	Navy 17 San Diego State 16
Dec. 24	Bahamas Bowl	Thomas Robinson Stadium Nassau, Bahamas 12:00 pm		Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (7–5) Central Michigan Chippewas (7–5)	C-USA MAC	Western Kentucky 49 Central Michigan 48
	Hawaii Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:00 pm		Rice Owls (7–5) Fresno State Bulldogs (6–7)	C-USA Mountain West	Rice 30 Fresno State 6
Dec. 26	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX 1:00 pm		Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8–5) Illinois Fighting Illini (6–6)	C-USA Big Ten	Louisiana Tech 35 Illinois 18
	Quick Lane Bowl	Ford Field Detroit, MI 4:30 pm		Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7–5) North Carolina Tar Heels (6–6)	Big Ten ACC	Rutgers 40 North Carolina 21
	St. Petersburg Bowl	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00 pm		NC State Wolfpack (7–5) UCF Knights (9–3)	ACC American	NC State 34 UCF 27
Dec. 27	Military Bowl	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:00 pm		Virginia Tech Hokies (6–6) Cincinnati Bearcats (9–3)	ACC American	Virginia Tech 33 Cincinnati 17
	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX 2:00 pm	CBS	No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils (9–3) Duke Blue Devils (9–3)	Pac-12 ACC	Arizona State 36 Duke 31
	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA 4:00 pm	ABC	South Carolina Gamecocks (6–6) Miami Hurricanes (6–6)	SEC ACC	South Carolina 24 Miami 21
	Pinstripe Bowl	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY 4:30 pm	ESPN	Penn State Nittany Lions (6–6) Boston College Eagles (7–5)	Big Ten ACC	Penn State 31 Boston College 30 (OT)
	Holiday Bowl	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California 8:00 pm		No. 24 USC Trojans (8–4) Nebraska Cornhuskers (9–3)	Pac-12 Big Ten	USC 45 Nebraska 42
Dec. 29	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN 2:00 pm		Texas A&M Aggies (7–5) West Virginia Mountaineers (7–5)	SEC Big 12	Texas A&M 45 West Virginia 37
	Russell Athletic Bowl	Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium Orlando, FL 5:30 pm		No. 17 Clemson Tigers (9–3) Oklahoma Sooners (8–4)	ACC Big 12	Clemson 40 Oklahoma 6
	Texas Bowl	NRG Stadium Houston, TX 9:00 pm		Arkansas Razorbacks (6–6) Texas Longhorns (6–6)	SEC Big 12	Arkansas 31 Texas 7
Dec. 30	Music City Bowl	LP Field Nashville, TN 3:00 pm		Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7–5) No. 23 LSU Tigers (8–4)	Independent SEC	Notre Dame 31 LSU 28
	Belk Bowl	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC 6:45 pm		No. 13 Georgia Bulldogs (9–3) No. 21 Louisville Cardinals (9–3)	SEC ACC	Georgia 37 Louisville 14
	Foster Farms Bowl	Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, CA 10:00 pm		Stanford Cardinal (7–5) Maryland Terrapins (7–5)	Pac-12 Big Ten	Stanford 45 Maryland 21
Jan. 1	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL 12:00 pm	ESPN2	No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (10–3) No. 19 Auburn Tigers (8–4)	Big Ten SEC	Wisconsin 34 Auburn 31 (OT)
	Citrus Bowl	Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium Orlando, FL 1:00 pm	ABC	No. 16 Missouri Tigers (10–3) No. 25 Minnesota Golden Gophers (8–4)	SEC Big Ten	Missouri 33 Minnesota 17
Jan. 2	Armed Forces Bowl	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX 12:00 pm	ESPN	Houston Cougars (7–5) Pittsburgh Panthers (6–6)	American ACC	Houston 35 Pittsburgh 34
	TaxSlayer Bowl	EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL 3:20 pm		Tennessee Volunteers (6–6) Iowa Hawkeyes (7–5)	SEC Big Ten	Tennessee 45 Iowa 28
	Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio, TX 6:45 pm		No. 14 UCLA Bruins (9–3) No. 11 Kansas State Wildcats (9–3)	Pac-12 Big 12	UCLA 40 Kansas State 35
	Cactus Bowl	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ 10:15 pm		Oklahoma State Cowboys (6–6) Washington Huskies (8–5)	Big 12 Pac-12	Oklahoma State 30 Washington 22
Jan. 3	Birmingham Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, AL 12:00 pm		Florida Gators (6–5) East Carolina Pirates (8–4)	SEC American	Florida 28 East Carolina 20
Jan. 4	GoDaddy Bowl	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 9:00 pm		Toledo Rockets (8–4) Arkansas State Red Wolves (7–5)	MAC Sun Belt	Toledo 63 Arkansas State 44

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

1. "College Football Playoff 101", ESPN, May 19, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
2. , FBSchedules.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
3. Wolken, Dan (April 25, 2013). "Questions and Answers for the College Football Playoff", USA Today. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
4. "Future Sites and Schedules" 2014-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Playoff. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
5. Berkes, Peter (July 23, 2013). "College Football Playoff Bowls to Be Part of 'New Year's Six'", SB Nation. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
6. Huston, Chris. (October 7, 2013). "Report: Four New Bowl Games on Tap for 2014", NBC Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
7. "Detroit's Quick Lane Bowl to Feature ACC vs. Big Ten", USA Today, August 26, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
8. 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.