2015–16 NCAA Football Bowl Games
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The 2015–16 NCAA football bowl games were a series of
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...
s. They completed the
2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015, and ended on ...
. 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. This situation led directly to the NCAA Division I Council imposing a three-year moratorium on new bowl games in April 2016.


Schedule

The schedule for the 2015–16 bowl games is below. All times are EST ( UTC−5). The rankings used were the CFP rankings."2015–16 College Football Bowl Schedule – 2016 Playoff"
, FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015.


College Football Playoff and Championship Game

The 2015–16 postseason was the second to feature a
College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...
(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 The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
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 Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...
on January 11, 2016."College Football Playoff 101"
ESPN, May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
Both semifinal bowls were held on December 31, 2015. Under the TV contracts with ESPN that predate the CFP, both the Rose Bowl and the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...
(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. Analysts expressed concerns that the semifinal games could face reduced television viewership due to the
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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 ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. 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. 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." 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 ESPN began offering a TV Everywhere platform in 2010, allowing subscribers on participating Multichannel television, television providers in the United States to stream programming from ESPN's linear television channels online, on Mobile device, ...
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 The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
games), behind the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship. 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.


Non-CFP bowl games

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. 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. The participating teams with a losing record were Nebraska, Minnesota, and San Jose State. + 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 Hawaii 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


FCS bowl game

The FCS has one bowl game; they also have a
championship bracket In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
that began on November 28 and ended on
January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. * 1038 – An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimate ...
.


Results

The
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...
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 Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
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


CFP top 25 teams

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


Conference champions' bowl games

The
Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...
and
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
featured two conference champions playing against each other. Rankings are per the above CFP standings.


Bowl-eligible teams

* ACC (9): Clemson,
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North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, NC State,
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Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
* The American (8):
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, Memphis,
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*
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
(8):
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
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Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
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Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
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Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
, Northwestern, Ohio State,
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
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Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
*
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...
(7): Baylor, Kansas State,
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, TCU, Texas Tech,
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
*
Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...
(5): Louisiana Tech,
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Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky * Independents (2): BYU, Notre Dame * MAC (7):
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* Mountain West (7):
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, Utah State * Pac-12 (10):
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, Arizona State,
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Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
* SEC (10):
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, Auburn,
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LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
, 2015 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, Mississippi State, 2015 Ole Miss Rebels football team, Ole Miss, 2015 Tennessee Volunteers football team, Tennessee, 2015 Texas A&M Aggies football team, Texas A&M *Sun Belt Conference, Sun Belt (4): 2015 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team, Appalachian State, 2015 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team, Arkansas State, 2015 Georgia Southern Eagles football team, Georgia Southern, 2015 Georgia State Panthers football team, Georgia State Number of bowl berths available: 80
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 77


Conditionally bowl-ineligible teams

* The American (4): 2015 East Carolina Pirates football team, East Carolina*, 2015 SMU Mustangs football team, SMU, 2015 Tulane Green Wave football team, Tulane, 2015 UCF Knights football team, UCF * ACC (5): 2015 Boston College Eagles football team, Boston College, 2015 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Georgia Tech, 2015 Syracuse Orange football team, Syracuse, 2015 Virginia Cavaliers football team, Virginia, 2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Wake Forest *
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
(6): 2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Illinois*, 2015 Maryland Terrapins football team, Maryland, 2015 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, Minnesota*, 2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Nebraska*, 2015 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Purdue, 2015 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, Rutgers *
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...
(3): 2015 Iowa State Cyclones football team, Iowa State, 2015 Kansas Jayhawks football team, Kansas, 2015 Texas Longhorns football team, Texas* *
Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...
(8): 2015 Charlotte 49ers football team, Charlotte, 2015 Florida Atlantic Owls football team, Florida Atlantic, 2015 FIU Panthers football team, FIU*, 2015 North Texas Mean Green football team, North Texas, 2015 Old Dominion Monarchs football team, Old Dominion*, 2015 Rice Owls football team, Rice*, 2015 UTSA Roadrunners football team, UTSA, 2015 UTEP Miners football team, UTEP* *NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, Independent (1): 2015 Army Black Knights football team, Army * MAC (6): 2015 Ball State Cardinals football team, Ball State, 2015 Buffalo Bulls football team, Buffalo*, 2015 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team, Eastern Michigan, 2015 Kent State Golden Flashes football team, Kent State, 2015 Miami RedHawks football team, Miami (OH), 2015 UMass Minutemen football team, UMass * Mountain West (5): 2015 Fresno State Bulldogs football team, Fresno State, 2015 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team, Hawaii, 2015 San Jose State Spartans football team, San Jose State*, 2015 UNLV Rebels football team, UNLV, 2015 Wyoming Cowboys football team, Wyoming * Pac-12 (2): 2015 Colorado Buffaloes football team, Colorado, 2015 Oregon State Beavers football team, Oregon State * SEC (4): 2015 Kentucky Wildcats football team, Kentucky*, 2015 Missouri Tigers football team, Missouri*, 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team, South Carolina, 2015 Vanderbilt Commodores football team, Vanderbilt *Sun Belt Conference, Sun Belt (7): 2015 Idaho Vandals football team, Idaho, 2015 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team, Louisiana–Lafayette, 2015 Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks football team, Louisiana-Monroe, 2015 New Mexico State Aggies football team, New Mexico State, 2015 South Alabama Jaguars football team, South Alabama*, 2015 Texas State Bobcats football team, Texas State, 2015 Troy Trojans football team, 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 2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Nebraska, 2015 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, Minnesota, and 2015 San Jose State Spartans football team, San Jose State. 2015 Missouri Tigers football team, Missouri would have qualified over Minnesota or San Jose State, but announced they would decline a bowl bid. Note: There are 128 teams in FBS.


See also

*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


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 NCAA football bowl games 2015–16 NCAA football bowl games,