2015 Rose Bowl

The 2015 Rose Bowl (officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2015, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The game was the 101st playing of the Rose Bowl Game, and it was the first semifinal of the inaugural College Football Playoff (CFP), part of the slate of bowl games which concluded the 2014 FBS football season. The game featured two of the four teams chosen by the CFP selection committee: the No. 2 Oregon Ducks from the Pac-12 Conference and the No. 3 Florida State Seminoles from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The winner qualified for the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship against the winner of the other semifinal, hosted at the Sugar Bowl.

Florida State, the defending national champions, entered the game with a 13–0 record following a two-point victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC championship that extended the Seminoles' win streak to 29 games. Oregon entered 12–1; their lone loss came to Arizona in October, but the Ducks won their next eight games, including a rematch with Arizona in the Pac-12 championship, to secure a spot in the playoff. This was the first meeting between Florida State and Oregon; it was Florida State's first Rose Bowl Game appearance and Oregon's seventh. Both teams were led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks: FSU's Jameis Winston won in 2013, while Oregon's Marcus Mariota was the 2014 winner.

The game was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, with the kickoff time set for 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local time). The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association organized the game. The Northwestern Mutual financial services organization sponsored the game.