Tournament of Roses ParadeCircus float in a Tournament of Roses ParadeRose 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 quarterfinals and 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.
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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 quarterfinals or semifinals.
Formally: Pasadena Tournament of Roses Related Topics: American football BCS College Football Playoff Tournament of Roses Parade See all related contentA 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 Ny 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 2024–25 Ohio State 41 Oregon 21