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