Rose Bowl

Rose BowlDwayne Jarrett (white jersey) of the University of Southern California reaching for the football in USC's Rose Bowl victory over the University of Michigan, 2007.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Tournament of Roses ParadeCircus float in a Tournament of Roses Parade

Rose Bowl, oldest American postseason college 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.

(Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.)

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.

Rose Bowl*
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 0
1915–16 Washington State 14 Brown 0
1916–17 Oregon 14 Pennsylvania 0
1917–18 Mare Island 19 Camp Lewis 7
1918–19 Great Lakes 17 Mare Island 0
1919–20 Harvard 7 Oregon 6
1920–21 California 28 Ohio State 0
1921–22 California 0 Washington & Jefferson 0
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 0
1931–32 Southern California 21 Tulane 12
1932–33 Southern California 35 Pittsburgh 0
1933–34 Columbia 7 Stanford 0
1934–35 Alabama 29 Stanford 13
1935–36 Stanford 7 Southern Methodist 0
1936–37 Pittsburgh 21 Washington 0
1937–38 California 13 Alabama 0
1938–39 Southern California 7 Duke 3
1939–40 Southern California 14 Tennessee 0
1940–41 Stanford 21 Nebraska 13
1941–42 Oregon State 20 Duke 16
1942–43 Georgia 9 UCLA 0
1943–44 Southern California 29 Washington 0
1944–45 Southern California 25 Tennessee 0
1945–46 Alabama 34 Southern California 14
1946–47 Illinois 45 UCLA 14
1947–48 Michigan 49 Southern California 0
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 0
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 0
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
2023–24*** Michigan 27 Alabama 20
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
Citation Information
Article Title: Rose Bowl
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 05 September 2024
URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/sports/Rose-Bowl-football-game
Access Date: November 21, 2024