Rose Bowl (game)
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football game usually played on January 1 at the stadium of the same name in Pasadena, California. Sometimes called "The Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl is part of the annual Tournament of Roses event. The game was first played in 1902, pitting Michigan against Stanford, but the next game was not played until 1916. The Tournament also includes a parade with floats covered with flower petals. Before the Rose Bowl stadium was built, in 1923, games were played in Pasadena's Tournament Park, approximately 3 miles southeast of the current stadium.
In its early years (except during World War I), the game always featured a team (not necessarily the conference champion) from the Pacific Coast Conference (ancestor to today's Pac 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 the Big Ten and Pacific 10 Conferences. Since 2002, 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 was the first since 1946 to not feature the traditional pairing. As one of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games (the others being the Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange Bowls), the Rose Bowl hosts the national championship game once every four years under the BCS system.
Years listed here indicate the January game date; for example, the 2003 game was played following the 2002 autumn football season. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 1942 game was moved to Durham, North Carolina due to World War II travel restrictions.
Of special interest is the 1961 game, during this game the students of Caltech pulled a prank on the cheerleaders from Washington. Widely known as "The Great Rose Bowl Hoax" due to its televised audience of nearly 10 million. The prank involved hijacking a flip-card show during the halftime break. Caltech students substituted several images for the original images to be shown: the Caltech Beaver in place of the Washington Husky, the team name "HUSKIES" was inverted to "SEIKSUH", these were then followed with the name "CALTECH" in large letters as seen here.
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 Oklahoma. The 2005 bowl featured the University of Michigan against the University of Texas. This was a milestone as it marked the first meeting between these two teams, and also the first appearance by Texas in the Rose Bowl.
Italics denote a tie game.
* denotes BCS national championship games
** game played in Durham, NC
- Pasadena Tournament of Roses – Rose Bowl Game website
- The Great Rose Bowl Hoax
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