Rose Bowl Game
The
Rose Bowl is an annual
American college football game, usually played on
January 1 (
New Year's Day) at the
stadium of the same name in
Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday the game is then played on the following Monday. In 2002 and 2006, the Rose Bowl game was also the
BCS National Championship Game.
Sometimes nicknamed
The Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl is the oldest and most prestigious bowl game, and part of the annual
Tournament of Roses event. The game was first played in
1902, pitting
Michigan against
Stanford, but after Michigan's 49-0 win over Stanford, Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races instead. In
1916 football returned to stay. The Tournament also includes the
Tournament of Roses Parade featuring floats covered with flowers and plants. Before the Rose Bowl stadium was built in
1923, games were played in Pasadena's Tournament Park, approximately three miles southeast of the current stadium. For many years the game was
televised by
NBC in a 1 p.m.
PST time slot, the only New Year's bowl airing at that time. Since
1988, it has been broadcast on
ABC.
In the game's early years (except during
World War I), it always featured a team — not necessarily the conference champion — from the Pacific Coast Conference (ancestor to today's
Pacific 10), as well as a team invited from further east. Beginning with the
1947 game, the game's participants were established as the champions of what is now the
Big Ten and Pac-10 Conferences. Since
1998, however, with the creation of the
Bowl Championship Series system, team selection for the Rose Bowl is now tied into the other three BCS Bowls, although in any given year the Rose Bowl still attempts, if possible, to maintain the traditional Pac-10-Big Ten format. The
2002 game of
Nebraska Cornhuskers (
Big 12 Conference) and
Miami Hurricanes (who were members of the
Big East at that time) was the first since
1946 not featuring the traditional pairing. Starting with the 2007 BCS, the stadium hosting the traditional bowl game will also host the new stand-alone BCS National Championship Game one week later, meaning that the next time the
Rose Bowl Stadium will host the title game will be on
January 8,
2010. While
FOX got the rights to the
other three games in negotiations with the BCS, ABC retained the rights to the Rose Bowl Game for themselves.
|
Large card stunt performed at the 2004 Rose Bowl Game |
The impact of the BCS on the Rose Bowl matchups has resulted in the initial participation by several teams, even in years when the
BCS National Championship Game is not contested there. The
2003 Rose Bowl game featured the first appearance by the
Oklahoma Sooners. The
2004 Rose Bowl, between the
Michigan Wolverines and
USC Trojans resulted in the Trojans winning the 2003 AP National Title, effectively sharing the 2003 National Championship with BCS Champion
LSU. The
2005 bowl featured Michigan against the
Texas Longhorns, which was selected — amid some controversy — over
California Golden Bears, a Pac-10 school, from the final at-large bid. Despite the controversy, this was a milestone for Texas and Michigan as it marked the first meeting between the two teams. It was also the first appearance — and victory — by Texas in the Rose Bowl. The 2006 game, which was played for the national championship, featured offensive powerhouses
2005 Texas Longhorns (in its second straight Rose Bowl appearance and second appearance overall, holding a 19-game winning streak) and USC (attempting to become only the second school to claim three straight national championships and further its 34-game winning streak in its 30th Rose Bowl appearance, the most by any school). Texas won 41-38 on a touchdown in the closing seconds. Several sports analysts soon after the game were naming it among the most exciting championship games in sports history. In terms of number of TV viewers, it was the highest-rated college football game since the 1987
Fiesta Bowl between
Penn State and
Miami.
For years the game held fast to tradition by going without a
sponsor, but in
1998, the game became known as
The Rose Bowl Game presented by AT&T and in
2002 as
The Rose Bowl Game presented by PlayStation 2. Since
2003, when the agreement with
Sony expired, the game has been presented by
citi. The Rose Bowl still spurns the sponsorship tradition to a degree, as the sponsor's name is listed less prominently than in other bowl games. In other bowls, the sponsor's name is listed first and as part of the game's name, rather than merely as the presenter of the game.
* Years listed below indicate the January game date; for example, the
2003 game was played following the 2002 football season.
* Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor, the
1942 game was moved to
Duke University's Wallace Wade Stadium in
Durham, North Carolina due to
World War II security threats, as officials were wary of allowing such a large crowd to congregate anywhere on the
West Coast and risking another Japanese attack.
Italics denote a tie game.* denotes
BCS national championship games** game played in Durham, NC, due to a restriction on crowds allowed on the
West Coast after
Pearl Harbor| Date Played | Winning Team | Losing Team | | January 1, 1902 | Michigan | 49 | Stanford | 0 |
| January 1, 1916 | Washington State | 14 | Brown | 0 |
| January 1, 1917 | Oregon | 14 | Pennsylvania | 0 |
| January 1, 1918 | Mare Island - USMC | 19 | Camp Lewis - US Army | 7 |
| January 1, 1919 | Great Lakes - US Navy | 17 | Mare Island | 0 |
| January 1, 1920 | Harvard | 7 | Oregon | 6 |
| January 1, 1921 | California | 28 | Ohio State | 0 |
| January 2, 1922 | California | 0 | Washington & Jefferson | 0 |
| January 1, 1923 | Southern California | 14 | Penn State | 3 |
| January 1, 1924 | Washington | 14 | Navy | 14 |
| January 1, 1925 | Notre Dame | 27 | Stanford | 10 |
| January 1, 1926 | Alabama | 20 | Washington | 19 |
| January 1, 1927 | Stanford | 7 | Alabama | 7 |
| January 2, 1928 | Stanford | 7 | Pittsburgh | 6 |
| January 1, 1929 | Georgia Tech | 8 | California | 7 |
| January 1, 1930 | Southern California | 47 | Pittsburgh | 14 |
| January 1, 1931 | Alabama | 24 | Washington State | 0 |
| January 1, 1932 | Southern California | 21 | Tulane | 12 |
| January 2, 1933 | Southern California | 35 | Pittsburgh | 0 |
| January 1, 1934 | Columbia | 7 | Stanford | 0 |
| January 1, 1935 | Alabama | 29 | Stanford | 13 |
| January 1, 1936 | Stanford | 7 | SMU | 0 |
| January 1, 1937 | Pittsburgh | 21 | Washington | 0 |
| January 1, 1938 | California | 13 | Alabama | 0 |
| January 2, 1939 | Southern California | 7 | Duke | 3 |
| January 1, 1940 | Southern California | 14 | Tennessee | 0 |
| January 1, 1941 | Stanford | 21 | Nebraska | 13 |
| January 1, 1942** | Oregon State | 20 | Duke | 16 |
| January 1, 1943 | Georgia | 9 | UCLA | 0 |
| January 1, 1944 | Southern California | 29 | Washington | 0 |
| January 1, 1945 | Southern California | 25 | Tennessee | 0 |
| January 1, 1946 | Alabama | 34 | Southern California | 14 |
| January 1, 1947 | Illinois | 45 | UCLA | 14 |
| January 1, 1948 | Michigan | 49 | Southern California | 0 |
| January 1, 1949 | Northwestern | 20 | California | 14 |
| January 2, 1950 | Ohio State | 17 | California | 14 |
| January 1, 1951 | Michigan | 14 | California | 6 |
| January 1, 1952 | Illinois | 40 | Stanford | 7 |
| January 1, 1953 | Southern California | 7 | Wisconsin | 0 |
| January 1, 1954 | Michigan State | 28 | UCLA | 20 |
| January 1, 1955 | Ohio State | 20 | Southern California | 7 |
| January 2, 1956 | Michigan State | 17 | UCLA | 14 |
| January 1, 1957 | Iowa | 35 | Oregon State | 19 |
| January 1, 1958 | Ohio State | 10 | Oregon | 7 |
| January 1, 1959 | Iowa | 38 | California | 12 |
| January 1, 1960 | Washington | 44 | Wisconsin | 8 |
| January 2, 1961 | Washington | 17 | Minnesota | 7 |
| January 2, 1962 | Minnesota | 21 | UCLA | 3 |
| January 1, 1963 | Southern California | 42 | Wisconsin | 37 |
| January 1, 1964 | Illinois | 17 | Washington | 7 |
| January 1, 1965 | Michigan | 34 | Oregon State | 7 |
| January 1, 1966 | UCLA | 14 | Michigan State | 12 |
| January 2, 1967 | Purdue | 14 | Southern California | 13 |
| January 1, 1968 | Southern California | 14 | Indiana | 3 |
| January 1, 1969 | Ohio State | 27 | Southern California | 16 |
| January 1, 1970 | Southern California | 10 | Michigan | 3 |
| January 1, 1971 | Stanford | 27 | Ohio State | 17 |
| January 1, 1972 | Stanford | 13 | Michigan | 12 |
| January 1, 1973 | Southern California | 42 | Ohio State | 17 |
| January 1, 1974 | Ohio State | 42 | Southern California | 21 |
| January 1, 1975 | Southern California | 18 | Ohio State | 17 |
| January 1, 1976 | UCLA | 23 | Ohio State | 10 |
| January 1, 1977 | Southern California | 14 | Michigan | 6 |
| January 2, 1978 | Washington | 27 | Michigan | 20 |
| January 1, 1979 | Southern California | 17 | Michigan | 10 |
| January 1, 1980 | Southern California | 17 | Ohio State | 16 |
| January 1, 1981 | Michigan | 23 | Washington | 6 |
| January 1, 1982 | Washington | 28 | Iowa | 0 |
| January 1, 1983 | UCLA | 24 | Michigan | 14 |
| January 2, 1984 | UCLA | 45 | Illinois | 9 |
| January 1, 1985 | Southern California | 20 | Ohio State | 17 |
| January 1, 1986 | UCLA | 45 | Iowa | 28 |
| January 1, 1987 | Arizona State | 22 | Michigan | 15 |
| January 1, 1988 | Michigan State | 20 | Southern California | 17 |
| January 2, 1989 | Michigan | 22 | Southern California | 14 |
| January 1, 1990 | Southern California | 17 | Michigan | 10 |
| January 1, 1991 | Washington | 46 | Iowa | 34 |
| January 1, 1992 | Washington | 34 | Michigan | 14 |
| January 1, 1993 | Michigan | 38 | Washington | 31 |
| January 1, 1994 | Wisconsin | 21 | UCLA | 16 |
| January 2, 1995 | Penn State | 38 | Oregon | 20 |
| January 1, 1996 | Southern California | 41 | Northwestern | 32 |
| January 1, 1997 | Ohio State | 20 | Arizona State | 17 |
| January 1, 1998 | Michigan | 21 | Washington State | 16 |
| January 1, 1999 | Wisconsin | 38 | UCLA | 31 |
| January 1, 2000 | Wisconsin | 17 | Stanford | 9 |
| January 1, 2001 | Washington | 34 | Purdue | 24 |
| January 3, 2002* | Miami (FL) | 37 | Nebraska | 14 |
| January 1, 2003 | Oklahoma | 34 | Washington State | 14 |
| January 1, 2004 | Southern California | 28 | Michigan | 14 |
| January 1, 2005 | Texas | 38 | Michigan | 37 |
| January 4, 2006* | Texas | 41 | Southern California | 38 |
Image:2006_logo.jpg|2006 National Championship game logo*
Great Rose Bowl Hoax*
List of college bowl games*
Rose Parade*
Rose Bowl Game official site