The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season bowl game used by the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season, to determine the national champion.
The College Football Playoff, which replaced the Bowl Championship Series and the BCS National Championship Game, is a bracket tournament in which the top four teams in the country, as determined by a selection committee, square off. The match acts as the playoff final.
The team that triumphs in the game is handed the Dr. Pepper-sponsored College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. It was designed as a new championship trophy rather than the "crystal football" that the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) had been giving out since 1986 because officials wanted a new trophy that had nothing to do with the previous BCS championship system.
The College Football Playoff National Championship is not awarded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but by the College Football Playoff (CFP) organization. The highest division of collegiate football in which the NCAA awards championships is the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Winner
The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship was won by the Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU).
In front of almost 80,000 spectators at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, Ohio State defeated the Oregon Ducks 42-20 to win the 2015 College Football National Championship.
It was the first national championship the Buckeyes had won since they had defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the BCS championship game in 2002, after the 2001 college football season.
The Buckeyes were proclaimed the unanimous national champions after finishing first in the final coaches and AP polls, which was no small accomplishment in an occasionally contentious debate.
It is noteworthy that Ohio State's 2015 CFB National Championship winning squad was never regarded as the top team during the season, which added to the story's unexpected, thrilling, and seldom-seen aspect.
College Football Playoff Format
Since its inception in 2014, the College Football Playoff has selected a national champion via a four-team knockout bracket, and this format will not change until the end of the 2023 season.
Six bowl games—the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl—switch hosting duties for the semifinals. The rotation is based on a three-year cycle and includes the following combinations: fiesta/peach, orange/cotton, and rose/sugar.
The two semifinal bowls and the four elite bowls make up the New Year's Six. As per the agreement, the Rose and Sugar Bowls take place on New Year's Day every year. Three games were played on New Year's Eve and three on New Year's Day, for a total of six games at first.
However, low TV ratings in the first rotation caused several games that were originally slated for New Year's Eve to be moved to as early as December 27 in a few years. The selection committee seeds the top four teams in addition to allocating teams to the at-large bowls (Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach) in years when they do not host the semifinals.
The top-ranked team plays the bottom-ranked club in the four-team format, and vice versa. The No. 1 seed chooses its bowl game, which determines the semifinal bowl game assigned to each opponent, preventing them from playing in a "road" situation. There is no upper limit on the number of teams in each conference.
2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Venue
The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium was declared the host location in April 2013. The only two locations to submit proposals to host the very first title game were Arlington and Tampa (Raymond James Stadium).
The College Football Playoff announced that fans who registered for a random drawing by May 1, 2014, will be able to purchase 1,000 tickets. Dr. Pepper was revealed as the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy's official championship partner and presenting sponsor on March 25, 2014.
Each team received 20,000 tickets, and the price range for premium seat packages at the event is $1,899 to $3,899 each. Hotel stays, game tickets, parking passes, pregame hospitality, and an on-field post game experience are all possible inclusions in the packages.
2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Stats
Both Teams Statistical Comparison
| Statistics | Oregon | Ohio State |
| First downs | 20 | 28 |
| Plays–yards | 71–465 | 84–538 |
| Rushes–yards | 33–132 | 61–296 |
| Passing yards | 333 | 242 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 24–38–1 | 16–23–1 |
| Time of possession | 22:31 | 37:29 |
Ohio State Buckeyes Stats
| Oregon passing | ||||
| C/ATT | Yds | TD | INT | |
| Marcus Mariota | 24/37 | 333 | 2 | 1 |
| Oregon rushing | ||||
| Car | Yds | TD | LG | |
| Thomas Tyner | 12 | 62 | 0 | 12 |
| Marcus Mariota | 10 | 39 | 0 | 8 |
| Royce Freeman | 10 | 22 | 0 | 8 |
| Byron Marshall | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Oregon receiving | ||||
| Rec | Yds | TD | LG | |
| Byron Marshall | 8 | 169 | 1 | 70 |
| Dwayne Stanford | 4 | 61 | 0 | 28 |
| Keanon Lowe | 3 | 55 | 1 | 28 |
| Evan Baylis | 5 | 25 | 0 | 9 |
| Charles Nelson | 2 | 21 | 0 | 14 |
| Thomas Tyner | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Oregon Ducks Stats
| Ohio State passing | |||||
| C/ATT | Yds | TD | INT | ||
| Cardale Jones | 16/23 | 242 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ohio State rushing | |||||
| Car | Yds | TD | LG | ||
| Ezekiel Elliott | 36 | 246 | 4 | 33 | |
| Cardale Jones | 21 | 38 | 1 | 17 | |
| Curtis Samuel | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| Corey Smith | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| Jalin Marshall | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
| Ohio State receiving | |||||
| Rec | Yds | TD | LG | ||
| Corey Smith | 2 | 76 | 0 | 50 | |
| Michael Thomas | 4 | 53 | 0 | 23 | |
| Jalin Marshall | 5 | 52 | 0 | 26 | |
| Devin Smith | 1 | 45 | 0 | 45 | |
| Nick Vannett | 2 | 9 | 1 | 8 | |
| Curtis Samuel | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | |
FAQs
A. The Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU) won the 2015 College Football National Championship.
A. The College Football Playoff (CFP) organization awards the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy.
A. The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with Ohio State defeating Oregon 42-20.
A. The CFP’s format involves a four-team knockout bracket selected by a committee and rotating semifinals among six bowl games.
A. Ohio State's last national championship before 2015 was in 2002, defeating Miami in the BCS championship game.
