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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