Rose Bowl
Game, History, & Results
Rose Bowl, formally Pasadena Tournament of Roses, oldest American postseason college gridiron football contest, held annually in Pasadena, California. Each Rose Bowl game is preceded by a Tournament of Roses Parade, or Rose Parade, which is one of the world’s most elaborate and famous annual parades. In 2014 the Rose Bowl began participating in the College Football Playoff system, serving as a host of the Football Bowl Subdivsion (college football’s top division) championship semifinals in a rotation along with the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. The Rose Bowl is played on either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
The first festival, originally called the Battle of Flowers, was held on January 1, 1890, under the auspices of the Valley Hunt Club and consisted of local citizens decorating their carriages and buggies with flowers and driving over a prearranged route; the parade was followed by amateur athletic events. From 1897 the tournament was conducted by a newly established Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. The morning parade now consists of about 60 floats of intricate design, elaborately decorated with flowers and illustrating some aspect of the parade’s theme of the year. Interspersed among the floats are marching bands and costumed horses and riders, and included in the 5.5-mile- (8.9-km-) long procession are a grand marshal and a Rose queen.
In 1902 the first football game was held (between the University of Michigan and Stanford University) in Tournament Park, but chariot races and other contests were thereafter substituted, and football was not introduced as the annual contest until 1916. The Rose Bowl stadium opened in 1922, in time for the 1923 game. (Because of restrictions on crowds on the West Coast during World War II, the 1942 game was relocated to Durham, North Carolina.) Originally, the championship team of the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now the Pacific-12) simply invited a winning team from anywhere in the eastern United States to be its opponent. Beginning in 1947, however, the Rose Bowl brought together teams from the Big Ten (in the Midwest) and Pacific-12 conferences and their forerunners; with the advent of the College Football Playoff system, the bowl has maintained its tie-in with these two conferences, generally matching their champions unless the team or the bowl is participating in the national championship semifinals.
A list of Rose Bowl results is provided in the table.
season
result
*Part of Bowl Championship Series (BCS) from 1998–99 until 2013–14; part of College Football Playoff (CFP) from 2014–15.
**BCS national championship game.
***CFP semifinal.
1901–02
Michigan
49
Stanford
1915–16
Washington State
14
Brown
1916–17
Oregon
14
Pennsylvania
1917–18
Mare Island
19
Camp Lewis
7
1918–19
Great Lakes
17
Mare Island
1919–20
Harvard
7
Oregon
6
1920–21
California
28
Ohio State
1921–22
California
Washington & Jefferson
1922–23
Southern California
14
Penn State
3
1923–24
Washington
14
Navy
14
1924–25
Notre Dame
27
Stanford
10
1925–26
Alabama
20
Washington
19
1926–27
Alabama
7
Stanford
7
1927–28
Stanford
7
Pittsburgh
6
1928–29
Georgia Tech
8
California
7
1929–30
Southern California
47
Pittsburgh
14
1930–31
Alabama
24
Washington State
1931–32
Southern California
21
Tulane
12
1932–33
Southern California
35
Pittsburgh
1933–34
Columbia
7
Stanford
1934–35
Alabama
29
Stanford
13
1935–36
Stanford
7
Southern Methodist
1936–37
Pittsburgh
21
Washington
1937–38
California
13
Alabama
1938–39
Southern California
7
Duke
3
1939–40
Southern California
14
Tennessee
1940–41
Stanford
21
Nebraska
13
1941–42
Oregon State
20
Duke
16
1942–43
Georgia
9
UCLA
1943–44
Southern California
29
Washington
1944–45
Southern California
25
Tennessee
1945–46
Alabama
34
Southern California
14
1946–47
Illinois
45
UCLA
14
1947–48
Michigan
49
Southern California
1948–49
Northwestern
20
California
14
1949–50
Ohio State
17
California
14
1950–51
Michigan
14
California
6
1951–52
Illinois
40
Stanford
7
1952–53
Southern California
7
Wisconsin
1953–54
Michigan State
28
UCLA
20
1954–55
Ohio State
20
Southern California
7
1955–56
Michigan State
17
UCLA
14
1956–57
Iowa
35
Oregon State
19
1957–58
Ohio State
10
Oregon
7
1958–59
Iowa
38
California
12
1959–60
Washington
44
Wisconsin
8
1960–61
Washington
17
Minnesota
7
1961–62
Minnesota
21
UCLA
3
1962–63
Southern California
42
Wisconsin
37
1963–64
Illinois
17
Washington
7
1964–65
Michigan
34
Oregon State
7
1965–66
UCLA
14
Michigan State
12
1966–67
Purdue
14
Southern California
13
1967–68
Southern California
14
Indiana
3
1968–69
Ohio State
27
Southern California
16
1969–70
Southern California
10
Michigan
3
1970–71
Stanford
27
Ohio State
17
1971–72
Stanford
13
Michigan
12
1972–73
Southern California
42
Ohio State
17
1973–74
Ohio State
42
Southern California
21
1974–75
Southern California
18
Ohio State
17
1975–76
UCLA
23
Ohio State
10
1976–77
Southern California
14
Michigan
6
1977–78
Washington
27
Michigan
20
1978–79
Southern California
17
Michigan
10
1979–80
Southern California
17
Ohio State
16
1980–81
Michigan
23
Washington
6
1981–82
Washington
28
Iowa
1982–83
UCLA
24
Michigan
14
1983–84
UCLA
45
Illinois
9
1984–85
Southern California
20
Ohio State
17
1985–86
UCLA
45
Iowa
28
1986–87
Arizona State
22
Michigan
15
1987–88
Michigan State
20
Southern California
17
1988–89
Michigan
22
Southern California
14
1989–90
Southern California
17
Michigan
10
1990–91
Washington
46
Iowa
34
1991–92
Washington
34
Michigan
14
1992–93
Michigan
38
Washington
31
1993–94
Wisconsin
21
UCLA
16
1994–95
Penn State
38
Oregon
20
1995–96
Southern California
41
Northwestern
32
1996–97
Ohio State
20
Arizona State
17
1997–98
Michigan
21
Washington State
16
1998–99
Wisconsin
38
UCLA
31
1999–2000
Wisconsin
17
Stanford
9
2000–01
Washington
34
Purdue
24
2001–02**
Miami (Fla.)
37
Nebraska
14
2002–03
Oklahoma
34
Washington State
14
2003–04
Southern California
28
Michigan
14
2004–05
Texas
38
Michigan
37
2005–06**
Texas
41
Southern California
38
2006–07
Southern California
32
Michigan
18
2007–08
Southern California
49
Illinois
17
2008–09
Southern California
38
Penn State
24
2009–10
Ohio State
26
Oregon
17
2010–11
Texas Christian
21
Wisconsin
19
2011–12
Oregon
45
Wisconsin
38
2012–13
Stanford
20
Wisconsin
14
2013–14
Michigan State
24
Stanford
20
2014–15***
Oregon
59
Florida State
20
2015–16
Stanford
45
Iowa
16
2016–17
Southern California
52
Penn State
49
2017–18***
Georgia
54
Oklahoma
48
2018–19
Ohio State
28
Washington
23
2019–20
Oregon
28
Wisconsin
27
2020–21***
Alabama
31
Notre Dame
14
2021–22
Ohio State
48
Utah
45
2022–23
Penn State
35
Utah
21
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