2015–16 NCAA football bowl games

College football postseason game series

2015–16 NCAA football bowl games

Season| 2015
Regular season| September 3, 2015 – December 12, 2015
Number of bowls| 42[a]
All-star games| 4
Bowl games| December 19, 2015 – January 11, 2016
National Championship| 2016 College Football Playoff
National Championship
Location of Championship| University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
Champions| Alabama Crimson Tide
Bowl Challenge Cup winner| SEC
| Bowl record by conference

Conference|  Bowls|  Record|  Final AP poll
SEC|  11|  9–2 (0.818)|  5
Pac-12|  10|  6–4 (0.600)|  3
Big Ten|  10|  5–5 (0.500)|  6
ACC|  10|  4–6 (0.400)|  3
Mountain West|  8|  4–4 (0.500)|  0
American|  8|  2–6 (0.250)|  2
Big 12|  7|  3–4 (0.429)|  4
MAC|  7|  3–4 (0.429)|  0
Conference USA|  5|  3–2 (0.600)|  1
Sun Belt|  4|  2–2 (0.500)|  0
Independents|  2|  0–2 (0.000)|  1

* <-2014-15
* Bowl game
* 2016-17->

The 2015–16 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football bowl games. They completed the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The games began on December 19, 2015, and, aside from the all-star games, ended with the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship which was played on January 11, 2016.

A new record total of 41 team-competitive bowl games were played in FBS, including the national championship game and the inaugural Cure Bowl and Arizona Bowl. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the tenth consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons were bowl-eligible and participated in bowl games. To fill the 80 available team-competitive bowl slots, a new record 15 teams (19% of all participants) with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—12 had a .500 (6–6) season and, for another new record, three had a sub-.500 season. Those three teams each had 5–7 seasons, sharing a new record for the most regular season losses by a bowl team, which had previously been six.[1] This situation led directly to the NCAA Division I Council imposing a three-year moratorium on new bowl games in April 2016.[2]

## Schedule

[edit]

The schedule for the 2015–16 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5). The rankings used were the CFP rankings.[3]

### College Football Playoff and Championship Game

[edit]

The 2015–16 postseason was the second to feature a College Football Playoff (CFP) to determine a national champion of Division I FBS college football. Four teams were selected by a 12-member committee to participate in a single-elimination tournament, whose semifinals were held at the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl as part of a yearly rotation of six bowls. Their winners advanced to the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 11, 2016.[4][5]

Both semifinal bowls were held on December 31, 2015.[4] Under the TV contracts with ESPN that predate the CFP, both the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl (the first two bowls in the three cycling pairs that host semi-final games) are guaranteed exclusive TV time slots on January 1, regardless of whether they will be hosting a semifinal game.[6] Analysts expressed concerns that the semifinal games could face reduced television viewership due to the New Year's Eve scheduling, believing that fans would not be accustomed to the scheduling, and that they would face competition from New Year's Eve events and television specials like New Year's Rockin' Eve, which is aired by ABC—a corporate sibling to CFP broadcaster ESPN.[4] ESPN then proposed moving the semifinal games to January 2, 2016, a Saturday, arguing that the games would enjoy a higher level of prominence if held on a day of the week that is traditionally associated with college football. However, its proposal was rejected.[4]

CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock suggested this scheduling issue would instead "change the paradigm of what New Year's Eve is all about," opining that "if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party, you better have a bunch of televisions around."[7] Ratings for the two semifinal games were down from the prior season's equivalents, with the Orange Bowl reaching a 9.7 rating (in comparison to 15.5 for the 2015 Rose Bowl) and the Cotton Bowl reaching a 9.9 rating (in comparison to a 15.3 rating for the 2015 Sugar Bowl). On the online WatchESPN streaming service, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl drew the second and third-largest streaming audiences in the service's history (excluding 2014 FIFA World Cup games), behind the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship.[8] As a result of the reduced viewership, it was reported that ESPN was negotiating $20 million worth of credits to advertisers to compensate for the lower than expected ratings.[9]

| Semifinals |  | Championship

|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| December 31 – Orange Bowl
Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens |
|  1  |  Clemson | 37 |
|  4  |  Oklahoma | 17  |  |  | January 11 – National Championship
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale
|  |
|  |  |  1  |  Clemson | 40
| December 31 – Cotton Bowl
AT&T Stadium, Arlington |  |  2  |  Alabama | 45
|  |
|  2  |  Alabama | 38
|  3  |  Michigan State | 0  |

This bracket:

* view
* talk
* edit

Date  | Game  | Site  | Television  | Teams  | Affiliations  | Results

|
|
|
|
|
|

Dec. 31  | Peach Bowl | Georgia Dome
Atlanta, GA
12:00 pm  | ESPN | No. 18 Houston Cougars (12–1)
No. 9 Florida State Seminoles (10–2)  | American
ACC | Houston 38
Florida State 24
Orange Bowl
(Playoff Semifinal Game)  | Sun Life Stadium
Miami Gardens, FL
4:00 pm  | No. 1 Clemson Tigers (13–0)
No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners (11–1)  | ACC
Big 12 | Clemson 37
Oklahoma 17
Cotton Bowl Classic
(Playoff Semifinal Game)  | AT&T Stadium
Arlington, TX
8:00 pm  | No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (12–1)
No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (12–1)  | SEC
Big Ten | Alabama 38
Michigan State 0
Jan. 1  | Fiesta Bowl[10] | University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
1:00 pm  | No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes (11–1)
No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–2)  | Big Ten
Independent | Ohio State 44
Notre Dame 28
Rose Bowl Game | Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA
5:00 pm  | No. 6 Stanford Cardinal (11–2)
No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes (12–1)  | Pac-12
Big Ten | Stanford 45
Iowa 16
Sugar Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Superdome
New Orleans, LA
8:30 pm  | No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels (9–3)
No. 16 Oklahoma State Cowboys (10–2)  | SEC
Big 12 | Ole Miss 48
Oklahoma State 20
Jan. 11  | College Football Playoff National Championship
(Orange Bowl Winner vs. Cotton Bowl Winner)  | University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
8:30 pm  | No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (13–1)
No. 1 Clemson Tigers (14–0)  | SEC
ACC | Alabama 45
Clemson 40

### Non-CFP bowl games

[edit]

For the 2015–16 season, two new bowl games were added, the Cure Bowl and the Arizona Bowl, bringing the total number of bowl games to 41.[3][11][12][13] Due to not having enough teams with a 6–6 or better record to fill available bowl slots, the increase in number of bowls had the adverse effect of allowing a record three teams with losing records (5–7) to participate in bowls. The teams were selected by being the ones with the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) among all 5–7 teams.[14] The participating teams with a losing record were Nebraska, Minnesota, and San Jose State.[14]

Date  | Game  | Site  | Television  | Teams  | Affiliations  | Results

|
|
|
|
|
|

Dec. 19  | New Mexico Bowl | University Stadium
Albuquerque, NM
2:00 pm  | ESPN | Arizona Wildcats (6–6)
New Mexico Lobos (7–5)  | Pac-12
Mountain West | Arizona 45
New Mexico 37
Las Vegas Bowl | Sam Boyd Stadium
Whitney, NV
3:30 pm  | ABC | No. 22 Utah Utes (9–3)
BYU Cougars (9–3)  | Pac-12
Independent | Utah 35
BYU 28
Camellia Bowl | Cramton Bowl
Montgomery, AL
5:30 pm  | ESPN  | Appalachian State Mountaineers (10–2)
Ohio Bobcats (8–4)  | Sun Belt
MAC | Appalachian State 31
Ohio 29
Cure Bowl | Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium
Orlando, FL
7:00 pm  | CBSSN | San Jose State Spartans (5–7)
Georgia State Panthers (6–6)  | Mountain West
Sun Belt | San Jose State 27
Georgia State 16
New Orleans Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Superdome
New Orleans, LA
9:00 pm  | ESPN  | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8–4)
Arkansas State Red Wolves (9–3)  | C-USA
Sun Belt | Louisiana Tech 47
Arkansas State 28
Dec. 21  | Miami Beach Bowl | Marlins Park
Miami, FL
2:30 pm  | ESPN  | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (11–2)
South Florida Bulls (8–4)  | C-USA
American | Western Kentucky 45
South Florida 35
Dec. 22  | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Albertsons Stadium
Boise, ID
3:30 pm  | ESPN  | Akron Zips (7–5)
Utah State Aggies (6–6)  | MAC
Mountain West | Akron 23
Utah State 21
Boca Raton Bowl | FAU Stadium
Boca Raton, FL
7:00 pm  | ESPN  | Toledo Rockets (9–2)
No. 24 Temple Owls (10–3)  | MAC
American | Toledo 32
Temple 17
Dec. 23  | Poinsettia Bowl | Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, CA
4:30 pm  | ESPN  | Boise State Broncos (8–4)
Northern Illinois Huskies (8–5)  | Mountain West
MAC | Boise State 55
Northern Illinois 7
GoDaddy Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium
Mobile, AL
8:00 pm  | ESPN  | Georgia Southern Eagles (8–4)
Bowling Green Falcons (10–3)  | Sun Belt
MAC | Georgia Southern 58
Bowling Green 27
Dec. 24  | Bahamas Bowl | Thomas Robinson Stadium
Nassau, Bahamas
12:00 pm  | ESPN  | Western Michigan Broncos (7–5)
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (7–5)  | MAC
C-USA | Western Michigan 45
Middle Tennessee 31
Hawaiʻi Bowl | Aloha Stadium
Honolulu, HI
8:00 pm  | ESPN  | San Diego State Aztecs (10–3)
Cincinnati Bearcats (7–5)  | Mountain West
American | San Diego State 42
Cincinnati 7
Dec. 26  | St. Petersburg Bowl | Tropicana Field
St. Petersburg, FL
11:00 am  | ESPN  | Marshall Thundering Herd (9–3)
Connecticut Huskies (6–6)  | C-USA
American | Marshall 16
Connecticut 10
Sun Bowl | Sun Bowl Stadium
El Paso, TX
2:00 pm  | CBS | Washington State Cougars (8–4)
Miami Hurricanes (8–4)  | Pac-12
ACC | Washington State 20
Miami 14
Heart of Dallas Bowl | Cotton Bowl
Dallas, TX
2:20 pm  | ESPN  | Washington Huskies (6–6)
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9–4)  | Pac-12
C-USA | Washington 44
Southern Miss 31
Pinstripe Bowl | Yankee Stadium
Bronx, NY
3:30 pm  | ABC  | Duke Blue Devils (7–5)
Indiana Hoosiers (6–6)  | ACC
Big Ten | Duke 44
Indiana 41 (OT)
Independence Bowl | Independence Stadium
Shreveport, LA
5:45 pm  | ESPN  | Virginia Tech Hokies (6–6)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6–6)  | ACC
American | Virginia Tech 55
Tulsa 52
Foster Farms Bowl | Levi's Stadium
Santa Clara, CA
9:15 pm  | ESPN  | Nebraska Cornhuskers (5–7)
UCLA Bruins (8–4)  | Big Ten
Pac-12 | Nebraska 37
UCLA 29
Dec. 28  | Military Bowl | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Annapolis, MD
2:30 pm  | ESPN  | No. 21 Navy Midshipmen (10–2)
Pittsburgh Panthers (8–4)  | American
ACC | Navy 44
Pittsburgh 28
Quick Lane Bowl | Ford Field
Detroit, MI
5:00 pm  | ESPN2 | Minnesota Golden Gophers (5–7)
Central Michigan Chippewas (7–5)  | Big Ten
MAC | Minnesota 21
Central Michigan 14
Dec. 29  | Armed Forces Bowl | Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth, TX
2:00 pm  | ESPN  | California Golden Bears (7–5)
Air Force Falcons (8–5)  | Pac-12
Mountain West | California 55
Air Force 36
Russell Athletic Bowl | Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium
Orlando, FL
5:30 pm  | ESPN  | No. 17 Baylor Bears (9–3)
No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels (11–2)  | Big 12
ACC | Baylor 49
North Carolina 38
Arizona Bowl | Arizona Stadium
Tucson, AZ
7:30 pm  | ASN | Nevada Wolf Pack (6–6)
Colorado State Rams (7–5)  | Mountain West
Mountain West | Nevada 28
Colorado State 23
Texas Bowl | NRG Stadium
Houston, TX
9:00 pm  | ESPN  | No. 20 LSU Tigers (8–3)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (7–5)  | SEC
Big 12 | LSU 56
Texas Tech 27
Dec. 30  | Birmingham Bowl | Legion Field
Birmingham, AL
12:00 pm  | ESPN  | Auburn Tigers (6–6)
Memphis Tigers (9–3)  | SEC
American | Auburn 31
Memphis 10
Belk Bowl | Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, NC
3:30 pm  | ESPN  | Mississippi State Bulldogs (8–4)
NC State Wolfpack (7–5)  | SEC
ACC | Mississippi State 51
NC State 28
Music City Bowl | Nissan Stadium
Nashville, TN
7:00 pm  | ESPN  | Louisville Cardinals (7–5)
Texas A&M Aggies (8–4)  | ACC
SEC | Louisville 27
Texas A&M 21
Holiday Bowl | Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, CA
10:30 pm  | ESPN  | Wisconsin Badgers (9–3)
No. 25 USC Trojans (8–5)  | Big Ten
Pac-12 | Wisconsin 23
USC 21
Jan. 1  | Outback Bowl | Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
12:00 pm  | ESPN2  | No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers (8–4)
No. 13 Northwestern Wildcats (10–2)  | SEC
Big Ten | Tennessee 45
Northwestern 6
Citrus Bowl | Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium
Orlando, FL
1:00 pm  | ABC  | No. 14 Michigan Wolverines (9–3)
No. 19 Florida Gators (10–3)  | Big Ten
SEC | Michigan 41
Florida 7
Jan. 2  | TaxSlayer Bowl | EverBank Field
Jacksonville, FL
12:00 pm  | ESPN  | Georgia Bulldogs (9–3)
Penn State Nittany Lions (7–5)  | SEC
Big Ten | Georgia 24
Penn State 17
Liberty Bowl | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Memphis, TN
3:20 pm  | ESPN  | Arkansas Razorbacks (7–5)
Kansas State Wildcats (6–6)  | SEC
Big 12 | Arkansas 45
Kansas State 23
Alamo Bowl | Alamodome
San Antonio, TX
6:45 pm  | ESPN  | No. 11 TCU Horned Frogs (10–2)
No. 15 Oregon Ducks (9–3)  | Big 12
Pac-12 | TCU 47
Oregon 41 (3OT)
Cactus Bowl | Chase Field
Phoenix, AZ
10:15 pm  | ESPN  | West Virginia Mountaineers (7–5)
Arizona State Sun Devils (6–6)  | Big 12
Pac-12 | West Virginia 43
Arizona State 42

\+ Notre Dame is eligible for any one of the bowl bids reserved for ACC teams, if Notre Dame: (a) is bowl-eligible; and (b) is not selected for one of the CFP Bowls. Notre Dame may not be selected for one of the bowl games having ACC tie-ins unless Notre Dame has no less than one less overall loss than the winningest-remaining ACC team which has not yet been selected for a bowl game.

BYU has an agreement with the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl and the Hawaiʻi Bowl for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The Cougars will appear, in place of a Mountain West team, in the Las Vegas Bowl this season.

### All-star games

[edit]

Date  | Game  | Site  | Television  | Participants  | Results

|
|
|
|
|

Jan. 17  | Tropic Bowl | North Miami Stadium
North Miami Beach, Florida |  | American Team
National Team  | American 38
National 14
Jan. 23  | East–West Shrine Game | Tropicana Field
St. Petersburg, FL
4:00 pm  | NFL Network  | East Team
West Team  | West 29
East 9
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl | StubHub Center
Carson, CA
6:00 pm  | ESPN2  | National Team
American Team  | National 18
American 17
Jan. 30  | Senior Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium
Mobile, AL
2:30 pm  | NFL Network  | North Team vs.
South Team  | South 27
North 16

### FCS bowl game

[edit]

The FCS has one bowl game; they also have a championship bracket that began on November 28 and ended on January 9.

Date  | Game  | Site  | Television  | Participants  | Affiliations  | Results

|
|
|
|
|
|

Dec. 19  | Celebration Bowl | Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
12:00 pm  | ABC | North Carolina A&T Aggies (9–2)
Alcorn State Braves (9–3)  | MEAC
SWAC | North Carolina A&T 41
Alcorn State 34

### Results

[edit]

The Southeastern Conference was the Bowl Challenge Cup winner for the 2015-16 bowl season, which is awarded to the FBS football conference with the highest winning percentage. In addition, the nine total bowl wins by the SEC were the most ever accomplished by a single conference during a single bowl season. Southeastern Conference member Alabama won the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship game to finish the year as consensus national champions for the 2015 football season.

## Selection of the teams

[edit]

### CFP top 25 teams

[edit]

On December 6, 2015, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced their final team rankings for the year:[15]

Rank | Team | W–L | Conference and standing | Bowl game

|
|
|
|

| Clemson Tigers |

13–0

| ACC champions | Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal)

| Alabama Crimson Tide |

12–1

| SEC champions | Cotton Bowl Classic (CFP semifinal)

| Michigan State Spartans |

12–1

| Big Ten champions | Cotton Bowl Classic (CFP semifinal)

| Oklahoma Sooners |

11–1

| Big 12 champions | Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal)

| Iowa Hawkeyes |

12–1

| Big Ten West Division champions | Rose Bowl (NY6)

| Stanford Cardinal |

11–2

| Pac-12 champions | Rose Bowl (NY6)

| Ohio State Buckeyes |

11–1

| Big Ten East Division co-champions | Fiesta Bowl (NY6)

| Notre Dame Fighting Irish |

10–2

| Independent | Fiesta Bowl (NY6)

| Florida State Seminoles |

10–2

| ACC Atlantic Division second place | Peach Bowl (NY6)

| North Carolina Tar Heels |

11–2

| ACC Coastal Division champions | Russell Athletic Bowl

| TCU Horned Frogs |

10–2

| Big 12 second place (tie) | Alamo Bowl

| Ole Miss Rebels |

9–3

| SEC West Division second place | Sugar Bowl (NY6)

| Northwestern Wildcats |

10–2

| Big Ten West Division second place (tie) | Outback Bowl

| Michigan Wolverines |

9–3

| Big Ten East Division third place | Citrus Bowl

| Oregon Ducks |

9–3

| Pac-12 North Division second place | Alamo Bowl

| Oklahoma State Cowboys |

10–2

| Big 12 second place (tie) | Sugar Bowl (NY6)

| Baylor Bears |

9–3

| Big Twelve fourth place | Russell Athletic Bowl

| Houston Cougars |

12–1

| American champions | Peach Bowl (NY6)

| Florida Gators |

10–3

| SEC East Division champions | Citrus Bowl

| LSU Tigers |

8–3

| SEC West Division third place (tie) | Texas Bowl

| Navy Midshipmen |

10–2

| American West Division co-champions | Military Bowl

| Utah Utes |

9–3

| Pac-12 South Division co-champions | Las Vegas Bowl

| Tennessee Volunteers |

8–4

| SEC East Division second place (tie) | Outback Bowl

| Temple Owls |

10–2

| American East Division champions | Boca Raton Bowl

| USC Trojans |

8–5

| Pac-12 South Division co-champions | Holiday Bowl

### Conference champions' bowl games

[edit]

The Cotton Bowl Classic and Orange Bowl featured two conference champions playing against each other. Rankings are per the above CFP standings.

Conference | Champion | W–L | Rank | Bowl game

|
|
|
|

ACC | Clemson Tigers |

13–0

| 1 | Orange Bowl
American | Houston Cougars |

12–1

| 18 | Peach Bowl
Big Ten | Michigan State Spartans |

12–1

| 3 | Cotton Bowl Classic
Big 12 | Oklahoma Sooners |

11–1

| 4 | Orange Bowl
C-USA | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |

11–2

| — | Miami Beach Bowl
MAC | Bowling Green Falcons |

10–3

| — | GoDaddy Bowl
Mountain West | San Diego State Aztecs |

10–3

| — | Hawaii Bowl
Pac-12 | Stanford Cardinal |

11–2

| 6 | Rose Bowl
SEC | Alabama Crimson Tide |

12–1

| 2 | Cotton Bowl Classic
Sun Belt | Arkansas State Red Wolves | 9–3 | — | New Orleans Bowl

### Bowl-eligible teams

[edit]

* ACC (9): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech
* The American (8): Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa
* Big Ten (8): Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
* Big 12 (7): Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia
* Conference USA (5): Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky
* Independents (2): BYU, Notre Dame
* MAC (7): Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
* Mountain West (7): Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State
* Pac-12 (10): Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
* SEC (10): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M
* Sun Belt (4): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State

Number of bowl berths available: 80
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 77

### Conditionally bowl-ineligible teams

[edit]

* The American (4): East Carolina*, SMU, Tulane, UCF
* ACC (5): Boston College, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest
* Big Ten (6): Illinois*, Maryland, Minnesota*, Nebraska*, Purdue, Rutgers
* Big 12 (3): Iowa State, Kansas, Texas*
* Conference USA (8): Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, FIU*, North Texas, Old Dominion*, Rice*, UTSA, UTEP*
* Independent (1): Army
* MAC (6): Ball State, Buffalo*, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), UMass
* Mountain West (5): Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State*, UNLV, Wyoming
* Pac-12 (2): Colorado, Oregon State
* SEC (4): Kentucky*, Missouri*, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
* Sun Belt (7): Idaho, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama*, Texas State, Troy

Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 51

Note: Being bowl-ineligible does not, in itself, exclude a team from the chance to play in a bowl game. Tiebreaker procedures based on a school's Academic Progress Rate (APR) allowed for the possibility of 5–7 teams to play in bowl games since not enough teams qualified to fill all 80 spots with at least a 6–6 record.

Note: Teams with Asterisk (*) have a 5–7 record (14 total). Since a maximum of 77 bowl slots were filled, 3 of these teams qualified for a bowl game. These teams were Nebraska, Minnesota, and San Jose State.[16] Missouri would have qualified over Minnesota or San Jose State, but announced they would decline a bowl bid.[17]

Note: There are 128 teams in FBS.

## See also

[edit]

* Celebration Bowl, a game between two FCS teams that played its inaugural game in 2015
* Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the championship game for Division III football that ended the 2015 NCAA Division III football season

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ 41 FBS bowl games, including the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and 1 FCS bowl game.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "College Football Teams Which Played in Bowl Games Despite Losing Records". thesportsseer.com. December 30, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
2. ^ McMurphy, Brett (April 11, 2016). "NCAA approves three-year halt to new bowl games". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
3. ^ a b "2015–16 College Football Bowl Schedule – 2016 Playoff" Archived March 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
4. ^ a b c d "A daunting task: Can the CFP, ESPN change old New Year's Eve habits?". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
5. ^ "College Football Playoff 101", ESPN, May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
6. ^ "College Football Playoff drops ball with 2015 New Year's Eve semis". SI.com. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
7. ^ Tony Barnhart (January 6, 2014). "Before BCS ends, the whens, wheres, whys of College Football Playoff". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
8. ^ "College Football Playoff TV ratings drop with New Year's Eve time slots". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
9. ^ "ESPN is reportedly giving $20M back to advertisers because the College Football Playoff on New Year's Eve was such a disaster". SBNation. Vox Media. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
10. ^ "BattleFrog Announced as Title Sponsor of 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl" (Press release). Fiesta Bowl. December 4, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
11. ^ Kelley, Kevin (May 6, 2015). "Three New Bowls Approved, Pushes Total to 42 in 2015", FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
12. ^ Swiatecki, Chad (May 26, 2015). "Austin's Bowl Game Hopes Delayed to 2016". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
13. ^ Lisaius, Som (October 1, 2015). "Organizers, Officials Celebrate Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl", Tucson News Now. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
14. ^ a b "Nebraska, Minnesota, San Jose St. taking 5-7 records to bowl". NCAA.com. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
15. ^ "2015 College Football Rankings – Week 15 – College Football Playoff Rankings", ESPN, December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
16. ^ Johnson, Greg. "NCAA Football: Council approves process to allow 5–7 teams into bowl games". ncaa.com. NCAA. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
17. ^ Paul, Richard. "Missouri not interested in bowl after 5–7 season". The Oceanside Post. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Low, Chris (January 15, 2016). "ESPN's 2015 All-Bowl Team". ESPN. Retrieved January 10, 2019.

* v
* t
* e

2015–16 NCAA football bowl game season

* New Mexico (Dec. 19)
* Las Vegas (Dec. 19)
* Camellia (Dec. 19)
* Cure (Dec. 19)
* New Orleans (Dec. 19)
* Miami Beach (Dec. 21)
* Famous Idaho Potato (Dec. 22)
* Boca Raton (Dec. 22)
* Poinsettia (Dec. 23)
* GoDaddy (Dec. 23)
* Bahamas (Dec. 24)
* Hawaii (Dec. 24)
* St. Petersburg (Dec. 26)
* Sun (Dec. 26)
* Heart of Dallas (Dec. 26)
* Pinstripe (Dec. 26)
* Independence (Dec. 26)
* Foster Farms (Dec. 26)
* Military (Dec. 28)
* Quick Lane (Dec. 28)
* Armed Forces (Dec. 29)
* Russell Athletic (Dec. 29)
* Arizona (Dec. 29)
* Texas (Dec. 29)
* Birmingham (Dec. 30)
* Belk (Dec. 30)
* Music City (Dec. 30)
* Holiday (Dec. 30)
* Peach (Dec. 31)
* Outback (Jan. 1)
* Citrus (Jan. 1)
* Fiesta (Jan. 1)
* Rose (Jan. 1)
* Sugar (Jan. 1)
* TaxSlayer (Jan. 2)
* Liberty (Jan. 2)
* Alamo (Jan. 2)
* Cactus (Jan. 2)

* College Football Playoff games: Orange (semifinal) (Dec. 31)
* Cotton (semifinal) (Dec. 31)
* National Championship Game (Jan. 11)

* All-Star Games: East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 23)
* NFLPA Collegiate Bowl (Jan. 23)
* Senior Bowl (Jan. 30)

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2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season

Conference seasons|

* The American
* ACC
* Big 12
* Big Ten
* Conference USA
* MAC
* Mountain West
* Pac-12
* SEC
* Sun Belt

Inter-conference|

* Bowl games
* Rankings

All-Americans|

2015 College Football All-America Team

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NCAA football bowl seasons

* 1901–02
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