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The 2014–15 College Football Playoff was a single-elimination postseason tournament that determined the national champion of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the inaugural edition of the College Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by the College Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to the national championship game. Each participating team was the champion of its respective conference: No. 1 Alabama from the Southeastern Conference, No. 2 Oregon from the Pac-12 Conference, No. 3 Florida State from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and No. 4 Ohio State from the Big Ten Conference.

The playoff bracket's semifinal games were held at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, part of the season's slate of bowl games. In the Rose Bowl semifinal, Oregon defeated Florida State by a margin of thirty-nine points. The second semifinal, at the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State upset Alabama by seven. As a result of their victories, Ohio State and Oregon faced each other in the national championship game, held on January 12 in Arlington, Texas. In that game, Ohio State defeated Oregon, 42–20, to win the first CFP national championship and their eighth national championship in school history.

Bracket

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Selection and teams

The inaugural CFP selection committee was announced on October 16, 2013, with Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long as the chairman. Its other members were former Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne, former quarterback Archie Manning, former United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, former United States Air Force Academy superintendent Michael C. Gould, USC athletic director Pat Haden, former NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, former USA Today reporter Steve Wieberg, and former college head coach Tyrone Willingham.

The first CFP rankings were released on October 28, 2014. Four of the top six teams—Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Alabama—were from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and they were joined by Florida State from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Oregon from the Pac-12 Conference. Later that week, No. 3 Auburn defeated No. 4 Ole Miss, 35–31, in what the Associated Press called "the first College Football Playoff knockout game". As a result, Ole Miss dropped to No. 11 in the rankings and TCU rose to No. 6, making them the first Big 12 team to be ranked in the CFP top six. Arizona State made their debut in the top six in the third rankings release after Auburn's loss to unranked Texas A&M dropped them to No. 9. The Sun Devils suffered a loss to Oregon State the following week, dropping them back out of the top six, and a win by No. 5 Alabama over No. 1 Mississippi State vaulted the Crimson Tide to the top spot while dropping Mississippi State to fourth place. The top six remained the same in the following week's rankings, and Mississippi State dropped out of the top six in the penultimate rankings following their loss to No. 19 Ole Miss. Baylor moved up to No. 6 to replace them.

The next week saw many conferences play their championship games. No. 2 Oregon began the week by defeating No. 7 Arizona, 51–14, to win the Pac-12 Championship on December 5. The following day, No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 16 Missouri to win the SEC Championship and No. 4 Florida State beat No. 11 Georgia Tech for the ACC title. All three winners were expected to be selected for the playoffs. The fourth spot was more contentious; No. 3 TCU and No. 6 Baylor concluded their respective regular seasons with wins over Iowa State and No. 9 Kansas State, respectively, giving them both an 11–1 record and a share of the Big 12 championship, while No. 5 Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship over No. 13 Wisconsin in a 59–0 shutout, giving the Buckeyes a 12–1 record.

The inaugural semifinal pairings were announced alongside the rest of the top 25 during the release of the final CFP rankings on December 7, 2014. Ohio State was awarded the final spot in the bracket over Baylor and TCU, and joined Alabama, Oregon, and Florida State to make up the four-team field. Alabama was awarded the No. 1 spot and were placed in the Sugar Bowl to face No. 4 Ohio State, while No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Florida State were assigned to the Rose Bowl. Baylor and TCU finished No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. Each were assigned to one of the remaining New Year's Six bowl games: Baylor was scheduled to face No. 8 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl Classic and TCU drew No. 9 Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl—the latter was described as a "consolation prize" by the Associated Press. These final rankings generated some controversy, even before their release; on the morning of December 7, Forbes' Mike Ozanian criticized the College Football Playoff system and the makeup of the selection committee. The exclusion of both Big 12 teams generated criticism that the system had not solved the problems of the BCS that its supporters said it would, and Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby remarked that his conference had been punished for its lack of a conference championship game.

Key:  Team increased ranking from previous week   Team decreased ranking from previous week   Team selected to College Football Playoff 

Playoff games

Semifinals

Rose Bowl

at the Rose Bowl • Pasadena, California

• Date: January 1, 2015
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. PST

The Rose Bowl began the inaugural College Football Playoff on January 1 with the matchup between No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Florida State in the team's first-ever meeting. Florida State began the scoring with a field goal on their first drive, and Oregon responded with a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion. The Ducks maintained their five-point lead into halftime after each team scored a touchdown and a field goal in the second quarter. After the teams traded touchdowns to begin the second half, Oregon went on a run of 34 unanswered points in less than thirteen minutes, helped by four Florida State turnovers to Oregon's one. The 101st Rose Bowl, it was the first in which a team scored more than 50 points, and it marked the end of the Seminoles' 29-game unbeaten streak. The win put Oregon through to the National Championship to face the Sugar Bowl champion.

Sugar Bowl

at Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

• Date: January 1, 2015
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. CST

The second CFP semifinal, hosted at the Sugar Bowl, was played between No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Ohio State. It was the third meeting between the teams' head coaches, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, and the teams' fourth all-time meeting, the first since 1995. Both teams scored twice in the game's first quarter, Ohio State on two field goals and Alabama on two touchdowns, the first of which came after a fumble by Ezekiel Elliott. The Crimson Tide scored first in the second quarter following an interception by Cyrus Jones, though Ohio State responded with two touchdowns to narrow the deficit to one point entering halftime. After scoring first to begin the third quarter, Ohio State did not give up the lead, and they cemented their win on an 85-yard rush by Elliott late in the fourth quarter. The win improved the Buckeyes to 13–1 and sent them to face Oregon in the National Championship.

Championship game

at NRG Stadium • Houston, Texas

• Date: January 12, 2015
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. CST

References

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4. Layberger, Tom (November 4, 2014). "College Football Playoff 2014: TCU poised for a big move? Analyzing the committee's latest rankings". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
5. "Texas A&M capitalizes on late fumbles, upsets No. 3 Auburn". ESPN. Associated Press. November 9, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
6. Austin, Walt (November 11, 2014). "College Football Playoff rankings - 3rd edition, 11 November 2014". SB Nation. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
7. "QB Sean Mannion spurs Oregon State upset of No. 6 Arizona State". ESPN. Associated Press. November 16, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
8. "No. 4 Alabama stifles Dak Prescott and No. 1 Mississippi State". The New York Times. November 16, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
9. Rickman, Martin (November 25, 2014). "Alabama still No. 1 in College Football Playoff rankings; top four unchanged". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
10. "No. 19 Ole Miss topples No. 4 Mississippi State in Egg Bowl". ESPN. November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
11. Russo, Ralph D. (December 2, 2014). "TCU jumps FSU into third in College Football Playoff rankings". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
12. ^ "Marcus Mariota's 5 total TDs help No. 2 Oregon rout Arizona for Pac-12". ESPN. December 6, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
13. ^ Rogers, Ken (December 7, 2014). "Alabama rolls past Missouri, wins SEC Championship". The Opelika-Auburn News. Opelika, Alabama. p. 13. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. ^ "FSU holds off Georgia Tech to win ACC; eyes CFP spot next". ESPN. December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
15. Staples, Andy (December 7, 2014). "Big 12 crowns two champions but can't pick one top playoff contender". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
16. Thomas, George M. (December 7, 2014). "Big Ten Championship: Buckeyes blow it up". The Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. p. C001. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State selected for College Football Playoff". The New York Times. December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
18. "'New Year's Six' bowl pairings set". ABC News. December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
19. "TCU's consolation prize: Ole Miss in Peach Bowl". WHAS-TV. December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
20. Ozanian, Mike (December 7, 2014). "College Football Playoff no way to determine a national champion". Forbes. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
21. Culpepper, Chuck (December 7, 2014). "College Football Playoff field set but controversy lingers with Ohio State in, TCU snubbed". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
22. Cook, Steven (December 8, 2014). "Rose Bowl 2015: full preview and predictions for Oregon vs. Florida State". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
23. Kilgore, Adam (January 1, 2015). "2015 Rose Bowl: Marcus Mariota and Oregon crush Jameis Winston, Florida State". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
24. "Marcus Mariota, Ducks down error-prone FSU in Rose Bowl rout". ESPN. January 2, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
25. ^ "Cardale Jones, in 2nd career start, leads Ohio State in upset of Alabama". ESPN. January 2, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
26. Landis, Bill (January 1, 2015). "Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide in College Football Playoff semifinal". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
27. Thamel, Pete (January 2, 2015). "Ohio State downs Alabama in Sugar Bowl that signals a key power shift". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
28. "A No. 3 Quarterback topples No. 1 Alabama". The New York Times. January 2, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2024.

• 2014–15 College Football Playoff
• January 2015 sports events in the United States