[1] This situation led directly to the NCAA Division I Council imposing a three-year moratorium on new bowl games in April 2016.
Their winners advanced to the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 11, 2016.
[6] Analysts expressed concerns that the semifinal games could face reduced television viewership due to the New Year's Eve 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.
On the online WatchESPN 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 games), behind the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship.
[8] 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.
[14] The participating teams with a losing record were Nebraska, Minnesota, and San Jose State.
The Cougars will appear, in place of a Mountain West team, in the Las Vegas Bowl this season.
The FCS has one bowl game; they also have a championship bracket that began on November 28 and ended on January 9.
[16] Missouri would have qualified over Minnesota or San Jose State, but announced they would decline a bowl bid.