CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 2015 season

Alabama finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 14–⁠1 under Nick Saban, after it beat Clemson 45–⁠40 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Alabama 45, No. 1 Clemson 40 (Jan 11, 2016). 62 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker.

The Heisman vote: Derrick Henry 1,832 points, Christian McCaffrey 1,539
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Derrick Henry RB, Alabama1,832378277144
Christian McCaffrey RB, Stanford1,539290246177
Deshaun Watson QB, Clemson1,165148240241
Baker Mayfield QB, Oklahoma3343455122
Keenan Reynolds QB, Navy180201786
Leonard Fournette RB, LSU110102530
Dalvin Cook RB, Florida State7971822
Ezekiel Elliott RB, Ohio State575728
Connor Cook QB, Michigan State13231
Trevone Boykin QB, TCU13134

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Alabama (61)Southeastern Conference
2ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
3StanfordPac-12
4Ohio StateBig Ten
5OklahomaBig 12
6Michigan StateBig Ten
7TCUBig 12
8HoustonAmerican Athletic Conference
9IowaBig Ten
10Ole MissSoutheastern Conference
11Notre DameFBS Independents
12MichiganBig Ten
13BaylorBig 12
14Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
15North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
16LSUSoutheastern Conference
17UtahPac-12
18NavyAmerican Athletic Conference
19OregonPac-12
20Oklahoma StateBig 12
21WisconsinBig Ten
22TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
23NorthwesternBig Ten
24Western KentuckyConference USA
25FloridaSoutheastern Conference

Biggest upsets

Sep 12, 2015Toledo 16, 18Arkansas 12Toledo +21
Dec 5, 2015Texas 23, 12Baylor 17Texas +20.5
Oct 8, 2015Washington 17, 17USC 12Washington +17
Sep 26, 201518Utah 62, 13Oregon 20Utah +14
Oct 10, 2015Texas 24, 10Oklahoma 17Texas +13.5
Oct 3, 2015Arizona State 38, 7UCLA 23Arizona State +13
Nov 21, 20159Michigan State 17, 2Ohio State 14Michigan State +13
Nov 7, 2015Arkansas 53, 19Ole Miss 52Arkansas +11
Oct 17, 2015Memphis 37, 13Ole Miss 24Memphis +10.5
Nov 21, 201520Northwestern 13, 21Wisconsin 7Northwestern +10.5
Nov 21, 2015UConn 20, 13Houston 17UConn +10
Sep 26, 2015Duke 34, 20Georgia Tech 20Duke +10

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

Most exciting games

Dec 26, 2015Duke 44, Indiana 41
Oct 24, 201523Duke 45, Virginia Tech 43
Oct 10, 2015Washington State 45, Oregon 38
Oct 29, 2015Oregon 61, Arizona State 55
Nov 7, 2015Arkansas 53, 19Ole Miss 52
Nov 7, 2015Middle Tennessee 27, Marshall 24
Sep 26, 20153TCU 55, Texas Tech 52
Sep 5, 2015Tulsa 47, Florida Atlantic 44

By CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index: how far each team’s chance of winning swung, play by play. Games with an FBS team, decided by 16 points or fewer.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2015, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalOle Miss: Wk 1 No. 17, Wk 2 No. 17, Wk 3 No. 15, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 24, Wk 9 No. 19, Wk 10 No. 19, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 No. 25, Wk 13 No. 19, Wk 14 No. 16, Wk 15 No. 16, Final No. 1010 Ole MissIowa: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 22, Wk 7 No. 17, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 6, Final No. 99 IowaHouston: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 24, Wk 8 No. 21, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 18, Wk 11 No. 16, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 21, Wk 14 No. 17, Wk 15 No. 14, Final No. 88 HoustonTCU: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 15, Wk 14 No. 11, Wk 15 No. 11, Final No. 77 TCUMichigan State: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 66 Michigan StateOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 19, Wk 2 No. 19, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 15, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 19, Wk 8 No. 17, Wk 9 No. 14, Wk 10 No. 14, Wk 11 No. 12, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 55 OklahomaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 7, Final No. 44 Ohio StateStanford: Wk 1 No. 21, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 21, Wk 5 No. 18, Wk 6 No. 16, Wk 7 No. 15, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 15, Wk 13 No. 13, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 33 StanfordClemson: Wk 1 No. 12, Wk 2 No. 12, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 22 ClemsonAlabama: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 13, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 11 Alabama
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. StanfordNo. 21 → No. 3
  2. Houstonunranked → No. 8
  3. Iowaunranked → No. 9
  4. OklahomaNo. 19 → No. 5
  5. Michiganunranked → No. 12

Fell

  1. AuburnNo. 6 → unranked
  2. USCNo. 8 → unranked
  3. GeorgiaNo. 9 → unranked
  4. UCLANo. 13 → unranked
  5. OregonNo. 7 → No. 19

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

The College Football Playoff

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: Alabama

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Brandon Doughty Western Kentucky5,055 yds
  2. 2Jared Goff California4,719 yds
  3. 3Patrick Mahomes Texas Tech4,653 yds
  4. 4Luke Falk Washington State4,566 yds
  5. 5Nick Mullens Southern Miss4,476 yds

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Brandon Doughty Western Kentucky48 TD
  2. 2Jared Goff California43 TD
  3. T3Luke Falk Washington State38 TD
  4. T3Nick Mullens Southern Miss38 TD
  5. 5Baker Mayfield Oklahoma36 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Derrick Henry Alabama2,219 yds
  2. 2Christian McCaffrey Stanford2,019 yds
  3. 3Leonard Fournette LSU1,953 yds
  4. 4Royce Freeman Oregon1,836 yds
  5. 5Ezekiel Elliott Ohio State1,821 yds

Rushing touchdowns

  1. 1Derrick Henry Alabama28 TD
  2. 2Keenan Reynolds Navy24 TD
  3. 3Ezekiel Elliott Ohio State23 TD
  4. 4Leonard Fournette LSU22 TD
  5. 5Greg Ward Jr. Houston21 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1Keyarris Garrett Tulsa1,588 yds
  2. 2Taywan Taylor Western Kentucky1,467 yds
  3. 3JuJu Smith-Schuster USC1,454 yds
  4. 4Corey Davis Western Michigan1,436 yds
  5. 5Thomas Sperbeck Boise State1,412 yds

Receiving touchdowns

  1. 1Corey Coleman Baylor20 TD
  2. 2Taywan Taylor Western Kentucky17 TD
  3. 3Gabe Marks Washington State15 TD
  4. T4Josh Doctson TCU14 TD
  5. T4Michael Thomas Southern Miss14 TD

Interceptions

  1. 1Shawun Lurry Northern Illinois9 INT
  2. T2Damontae Kazee San Diego State8 INT
  3. T2Desmond King Iowa8 INT
  4. T2Jamar Summers UConn8 INT
  5. 5Latrell Gibbs App State7 INT

FBS players; season totals from CollegeFootballData.com player statistics.

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Houston
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big 12
Oklahoma
Big Ten
Michigan State
Conference USA
Western Kentucky
Mid-American Conference
Bowling Green
Mountain West Conference
San Diego State
Pac-12
Stanford
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Sun Belt Conference
Arkansas State

FCS

Big Sky
Southern Utah
Big South
Charleston Southern
Colonial Athletic Association
James Madison, Richmond and William & Mary (shared)
Ivy League
Dartmouth, Harvard and Pennsylvania (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central (shared)
Missouri Valley Football Conference
Illinois State and North Dakota State (shared)
Northeast Conference
Duquesne
Ohio Valley Conference
Jacksonville State
Patriot League
Colgate
Pioneer Football League
Dayton and San Diego (shared)
Southern Conference
Chattanooga and The Citadel (shared)
Southland Conference
McNeese
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State

Division II and below

Gulf South Conference
North Alabama and West Georgia (shared)
Lone Star Conference
East Texas A&M
Minnesota Conference
St. Thomas (MN)

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

26 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2015 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2015 All-America teams page.

The 2015 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Alabama 62 on the staff list

Support staff (52)

Analysts and quality control

  • Dean Altobelli analyst
  • Keary Colbert analyst
  • Garrett Cox analyst
  • Brendan Farrell analyst
  • Eric Kiesau analyst
  • Wes Neighbors analyst
  • William Vlachos analyst
  • Charlie Weis Jr. analyst
  • Joe Pendry special adviser, consultant-NFL liaison (off-field staff)
  • JT Summerford recruiting analyst

Strength and conditioning

  • Scott Cochran director of strength and conditioning
  • Terry Jones assistant head strength coach
  • Jeff Dillman strength & conditioning
  • Wilson Love strength & conditioning
  • Kindal Moorehead strength & conditioning
  • Tyler Owens assistant strength and conditioning coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Justin Dickens director of football operations
  • Jody Wright director of player personnel
  • Freddie Roach director of player development
  • Glenn Schumann director of player development, associate director of player personnel
  • Kerry Stevenson director of player development
  • Aazaar Abdul-Rahim associate director of player personnel
  • Ashleigh Kimble assistant director of player personnel
  • Brandy Moore football operations coordinator
  • Asha Sowell recruiting operations coordinator
  • Brandy Lyerly associate director, football operations
  • Jeff Purinton senior associate athletics director, Marketing & football communications
  • Ellis Ponder associate director of football operations
  • Linda Leoni administrative assistant

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Jeff Allen assistant AD for sports medicine
  • Rodney Brown athletic trainer (named as part of the full-time football training staff)
  • Ginger Gilmore director of Behavioral medicine, athletic trainer
  • Jeremy Gsell director of Rehab, athletic trainer
  • Amy Bragg director of performance nutrition
  • Dr. Lyle Cain orthpedic consultant

Equipment

  • Jeff Springer athletic equipment director
  • Larry Waters assistant equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • Troy Finney assistant AD for sports Technology & Innovation
  • Daniel Lyerly director of video operations for football
  • Mark Perschel assistant director of video operations for football
  • Josh Maxson director of football communications
  • Matt Lange assistant director graphic design
  • Glenda Edwards administrative assistant for head coach
  • Cedric Burns coordinator of athletic relations
  • Matt Self assistant A.D. Compliance
  • Lance Walker Academic Program advisor
  • Molly Dowd Academic Program advisor
  • Kent Gidley director of Photography
  • Roots Woodruff associate director of athletics communications (football credentials)
  • Jon Dever associate athletics director, Student services (academic support)
  • Jessica Pare athletics communications (football)
  • Doug Walker associate athletics director, communications

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

The selection committee

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2015, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 19, 2015Arizona 45, New Mexico 37New Mexico Bowl
Dec 19, 201520Utah 35, BYU 28Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 19, 2015App State 31, Ohio 29Camellia Bowl
Dec 19, 2015San José State 27, Georgia State 16Cure Bowl
Dec 19, 2015Louisiana Tech 47, Arkansas State 28New Orleans Bowl
Dec 21, 201525Western Kentucky 45, South Florida 35Miami Beach Bowl
Dec 22, 2015Akron 23, Utah State 21Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Dec 22, 2015Toledo 32, 24Temple 17Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 23, 2015Boise State 55, Northern Illinois 7Poinsettia Bowl
Dec 23, 2015Georgia Southern 58, Bowling Green 27GoDaddy Bowl
Dec 24, 2015Western Michigan 45, Middle Tennessee 31Bahamas Bowl
Dec 24, 2015San Diego State 42, Cincinnati 7Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Marshall 16, UConn 10St. Petersburg Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Washington State 20, Miami 14Sun Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Washington 44, Southern Miss 31Heart of Dallas Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Duke 44, Indiana 41Pinstripe Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Virginia Tech 55, Tulsa 52Independence Bowl
Dec 26, 2015Nebraska 37, UCLA 29Foster Farms Bowl
Dec 28, 201521Navy 44, Pittsburgh 28Military Bowl
Dec 28, 2015Minnesota 21, Central Michigan 14Quick Lane Bowl
Dec 29, 2015California 55, Air Force 36Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 29, 201518Baylor 49, 10North Carolina 38Russell Athletic Bowl
Dec 29, 2015Nevada 28, Colorado State 23Arizona Bowl
Dec 29, 201522LSU 56, Texas Tech 27Texas Bowl
Dec 30, 2015Auburn 31, Memphis 10Birmingham Bowl
Dec 30, 2015Mississippi State 51, NC State 28Belk Bowl
Dec 30, 2015Louisville 27, Texas A&M 21Music City Bowl
Dec 30, 201523Wisconsin 23, USC 21Holiday Bowl
Dec 31, 201514Houston 38, 9Florida State 24Peach Bowl
Dec 31, 20151Clemson 37, 4Oklahoma 17Orange Bowl
Dec 31, 20152Alabama 38, 3Michigan State 0Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 2016Tennessee 45, 12Northwestern 6Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 201617Michigan 41, 19Florida 7Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 20167Ohio State 44, 8Notre Dame 28Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 20165Stanford 45, 6Iowa 16Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 201616Ole Miss 48, 13Oklahoma State 20Sugar Bowl
Jan 2, 2016Georgia 24, Penn State 17TaxSlayer Bowl
Jan 2, 2016Arkansas 45, Kansas State 23Liberty Bowl
Jan 2, 201611TCU 47, 15Oregon 41Alamo Bowl
Jan 2, 2016West Virginia 43, Arizona State 42Cactus Bowl
Jan 11, 20162Alabama 45, 1Clemson 40CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2015 NCAA rule book against the one before: 4 new, 19 changed, 1 removed, 3 renumbered and 1 retitled articles, which took effect in 2014 or 2015 (the dataset has no book for the season before).

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Changed Rule 1-4-1 Recommended Numbering (Players and Playing Equipment)
  • Changed Rule 1-4-5 Jersey Design, Color and Numerals (Players and Playing Equipment)
  • Changed Rule 1-4-8 Mandatory and Illegal Equipment Enforcement (Players and Playing Equipment)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • New Rule 2-10-2 Personal Foul (Foul and Violation)
  • New Rule 2-10-3 Flagrant Personal Foul (Foul and Violation)
  • Renumbered Rule 2-10-4 Violation (Foul and Violation) was Rule 2-10-2
  • Changed Rule 2-11-4 Touching (Fumble, Muff; Batting and Touching the Ball; Blocking a Kick)
  • Changed Rule 2-11-5 Blocking a Scrimmage Kick (Fumble, Muff; Batting and Touching the Ball; Blocking a Kick)
  • Changed Rule 2-17-1 (The Neutral Zone)
  • Changed Rule 2-25-1 Enforcement Spot (Spots)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • Changed Rule 3-1-1 First and Third Periods (Start of Each Period)
  • Changed Rule 3-2-2 Timing Adjustments (Playing Time and Intermissions)
  • Changed Rule 3-3-6 Violation Timeouts (Timeouts: Starting and Stopping the Clock)
  • Changed Rule 3-4-4 (Delays/Clock Tactics)

Rule 6: Kicks

  • Changed Rule 6-3-9 Touching Ground On or Behind Goal Line (Scrimmage Kicks)

Rule 7: Snapping and Passing the Ball

  • Changed Rule 7-1-4 Offensive Team Requirements-At the Snap (The Scrimmage)

Rule 9: Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules

  • Changed Rule 9-1-8 Helmet and Face Mask Fouls (Personal Fouls)
  • Changed Rule 9-1-11 Leverage, Leaping and Landing (Personal Fouls)
  • Changed Rule 9-2-3 Unfair Acts (Unsportsmanlike Conduct Fouls)
  • Retitled Rule 9-2-5 Game Administration and Sideline Interference (Unsportsmanlike Conduct Fouls)
  • Renumbered Rule 9-2-7 Use of Tobacco (Unsportsmanlike Conduct Fouls) was Rule 1-4-14
  • Changed Rule 9-3-3 Holding and Use of Hands or Arms: Offense (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)
  • Changed Rule 9-3-4 Holding and Use of Hands or Arms: Defense (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)
  • New Rule 9-3-5 Use of Hands or Arms by Defense: Passing Downs (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)
  • Removed Rule 9-3-5 Player Restrictions (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)
  • New Rule 9-3-6 Blocking in the Back (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms)
  • Renumbered Rule 9-3-7 When Ball Is Loose (Blocking, Use of Hands or Arms) was Rule 9-3-6

Rule 11: The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties

  • Changed Rule 11-2-1 (Responsibilities)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).