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Rose Bowl Tickets |
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 Rose Bowl TicketsThe Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Years Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California for 95 years. When New Years Day falls on a Sunday, the game is then played on the following Monday. The Rose Bowl is nicknamed "The Granddaddy of Them All" because it is the oldest bowl game. It was first played in 1902, and continuously since 1916. Since 1945, it has been the highest attended college football bowl game. It is a part of the Tournament of Roses "Americas New Year Celebration".
In 2002 and 2006 (2001 and 2005 seasons), the Rose Bowl game was also the BCS National Championship Game. In the current BCS alignment, the Rose Bowl will host the designated Big Ten and Pacific-10 conference representatives unless they are involved in the national championship game. Rose Bowl game representative teams from the Big Ten and Pacific-10 conferences are chosen by the specific rules for each conference. Tiebreaker rules exist when multiple teams tie for the conference championship. |
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Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," the first Rose Bowl was played on January 1, 1902, starting the tradition of New Years Day bowl games. The inaugural game featured Fielding Yosts dominating 1901 Michigan team, representing the East, which crushed a previously 3-1-2 team from Stanford University, representing the West, by a score of 49?0 after Stanford quit in the third quarter. Michigan finished the season 11?0 and was considered the national champion. Yost had been Stanfords coach the previous year. The game was so lopsided that for the next 15 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football. But, on New Years Day 1916 football returned to stay as The State College of Washington defeated Brown University in the first annual Rose Bowl.
Since 1998, with the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, team selection for the Rose Bowl is now tied to the other three BCS bowls, although in any given year the Rose Bowl still attempts, if possible, to maintain the traditional Pac-10 versus Big Ten format. Twice in this era, the Rose Bowl has served as the BCS championship game.
The 2002 game served as the BCS championship game between the BCS #1 ranked Miami, then a member of the Big East Conference, and the BCS #2 ranked Nebraska of the Big 12 Conference. The Nebraska selection as the BCS #2 team was controversial because Oregon was ranked #2 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, while Nebraska was ranked #4 in both polls and did not play in its conference championship game (#3 Colorado, who played Oregon in that years Fiesta Bowl, did and won the Big 12s automatic bid to the BCS). This prevented a West Coast team playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time, and it also marked the first match up since 1946 to not feature the traditional pairing of Pac-10 vs. Big Ten teams.
The 2006 Rose Bowl game featured offensive powerhouses Texas, riding a 19-game winning streak, and USC, which entered the game with a 34-game winning streak and 2 Heisman Trophy winners. Texas won 41?38. The games television viewership was the highest for college football contest since the 1987 Fiesta Bowl between Penn State and Miami.
On two other occasions during the BCS era, Rose Bowl participation has expanded beyond the Big Ten and Pac-10. The 2003 game featured the first appearance by Oklahoma, who was chosen for the game over Big Ten co-champion Iowa (Ohio State, who had shared the conference championship with Iowa, played for the national championship and won). The 2005 game featured Texas of the Big 12 Conference, selected, amid some controversy, over the University of California at Berkeley of the Pac-10, marking the second time a West Coast team did not make the Rose Bowl. The University of California at Berkeley has had the longest drought not appearing in a Rose Bowl since January 1, 1959; not winning the Rose Bowl since January 1, 1938.
The 2004 game is also noteworthy. In this game, USC defeated Michigan, 28?14, thus earning the top ranking in the AP Poll and a share of the national championship with BCS champion LSU (USC, despite being #1 in both the Coaches and AP polls, did not qualify for the BCS championship game because of their standing in the BCS system).
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