| Season: | 2014 |
| Regular Season: | August 30, 2014 – December 13, 2014 |
| Number Of Bowls: | 39 |
| All Star Games: | 3 |
| Bowl Start: | December 20, 2014 |
| Bowl End: | January 12, 2015 |
| Championship Bowl: | 2015 College Football Playoffs National Championship |
| Championship Location: | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas |
| Champions: | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| Bowl Challenge Cup: | Conference USA |
| Conference1: | SEC |
| Conference1 Teams: | 12 |
| Conference1 Wins: | 7 |
| Conference1 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference1 Ap Poll: | 6 |
| Conference2: | Big Ten |
| Conference2 Teams: | 11 |
| Conference2 Wins: | 6 |
| Conference2 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference2 Ap Poll: | 3 |
| Conference3: | ACC |
| Conference3 Teams: | 11 |
| Conference3 Wins: | 4 |
| Conference3 Losses: | 7 |
| Conference3 Ap Poll: | 4 |
| Conference4: | Pac-12 |
| Conference4 Teams: | 9 |
| Conference4 Wins: | 6 |
| Conference4 Losses: | 3 |
| Conference4 Ap Poll: | 6 |
| Conference5: | Mountain West |
| Conference5 Teams: | 7 |
| Conference5 Wins: | 3 |
| Conference5 Losses: | 4 |
| Conference5 Ap Poll: | 1 |
| Conference6: | Big 12 |
| Conference6 Teams: | 7 |
| Conference6 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference6 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference6 Ap Poll: | 3 |
| Conference7: | Conference USA |
| Conference7 Teams: | 5 |
| Conference7 Wins: | 4 |
| Conference7 Losses: | 1 |
| Conference7 Ap Poll: | 1 |
| Conference8: | American |
| Conference8 Teams: | 5 |
| Conference8 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference8 Losses: | 3 |
| Conference8 Ap Poll: | 1 |
| Conference9: | MAC |
| Conference9 Teams: | 5 |
| Conference9 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference9 Losses: | 3 |
| Conference9 Ap Poll: | 0 |
| Conference10: | Independents |
| Conference10 Teams: | 3 |
| Conference10 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference10 Losses: | 1 |
| Conference10 Ap Poll: | 0 |
| Conference11: | Sun Belt |
| Conference11 Teams: | 3 |
| Conference11 Wins: | 1 |
| Conference11 Losses: | 2 |
| Conference11 Ap Poll: | 0 |
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.
The schedule for the 2014–15 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5). The rankings used are the CFP rankings.[2]
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]
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 | style=white-space:nowrap | 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 |
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 | Participants | Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| space:nowrap | Jan. 10 | Medal of Honor Bowl | Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC 2:30 pm | NBCSN | style=white-space:nowrap | National Team vs. American Team | National 26 American 14 | |
| style=white-space:nowrap rowspan=2 | 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 | ||||
| space:nowrap | Jan. 24 | Senior Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 4:00 pm | NFL Network | style=white-space:nowrap | North Team vs. South Team | North 34 South 13 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC champions | Sugar Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| Pac-12 champions | Rose Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| ACC champions | Rose Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| Big Ten champions | Sugar Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| Big 12 co-champions | Cotton Bowl Classic (NY6) | ||||
| Big 12 co-champions | Peach Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| SEC Western Division second place | Orange Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| Big Ten East Division second place | Cotton Bowl Classic (NY6) | ||||
| SEC Western Division third place | Peach Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| Pac-12 South Division champions | Fiesta Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| Big 12 third place | Alamo Bowl | ||||
| ACC Coastal Division champions | Orange Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| SEC Eastern Division second place | Belk Bowl | ||||
| Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Alamo Bowl | ||||
| Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Sun Bowl | ||||
| SEC Eastern Division champions | Citrus Bowl | ||||
| ACC Atlantic Division second place | Russell Athletic Bowl | ||||
| Big Ten West Division champions | Outback Bowl | ||||
| SEC Western Division fourth place (tie) | Outback Bowl | ||||
| Mountain West champions | Fiesta Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| ACC Atlantic Division third place | Belk Bowl | ||||
| Pac-12 South Division fifth place | Las Vegas Bowl | ||||
| SEC Western Division fourth place (tie) | Music City Bowl | ||||
| Pac-12 South Division second place (tie) | Holiday Bowl | ||||
| Big Ten West Division second place (tie) | Citrus Bowl |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rose Bowl | |||||
| — | Military Bowl | ||||
| — | Miami Beach Bowl | ||||
| — | St. Petersburg Bowl | ||||
| Sugar Bowl | |||||
| Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||
| Peach Bowl | |||||
| — | Boca Raton Bowl | ||||
| — | Boca Raton Bowl | ||||
| 20 | Fiesta Bowl | ||||
| Rose Bowl | |||||
| Sugar Bowl | |||||
| — | none |
Number of bowl berths available: 76
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 81
As there were more bowl-eligible teams than bowl berths, five bowl-eligible teams did not receive a bowl berth:
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.