Rose Bowl

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA has been dubbed the "Granddaddy of them all"^® due to the many years of great football games it has hosted since 1923. No other game carries half the prestige that the Rose Bowl does, and it's a game that teams aspire to find themselves in for their final game of the season. Up until 1998, the game was played by the top team from the Pac-10 and the Big-10, but that changed when the Bowl Championship Series came along.

The Big 10 and Pac-10 are two conferences that have always displayed two completely different playing styles. The Pac-10 has always been more of a passing/finesse conference while the Big 10 has always played smash mouth football by running the ball all game. The BCS turned the game into one of four championship bowls that would get a chance to host a legitimate National Championship Game showcasing the number one and number two ranked teams in the country. The Rose Bowl will get its chance to host the National Championship Game following the 2005 regular season.

The Rose Bowl has had a number of amazing games and great moments inside of its walls over the many years of bowl games. It has been the site of a number of first time events in college football history. It was the site of the first wire photo transmission of a bowl game in 1925, the first transcontinental radio broadcast of a college football game in 1927, the first Los Angeles television broadcast of a college football game in 1948, the first national telecast of a college football game in 1952, the first coast-to-coast color broadcast of a collegiate football game in 1962, the first satellite television broadcast to Europe of a college football game in 1968, and the first live telecast of a college football game to the Far East in 1978.

The 2009 Rose Bowl, the 95th annual, featured the Penn State Nittany Lions representing the Big Ten Conference against the USC Trojans representing the Pac 10. The game was an exciting shootout as both teams got on the board with less than five minutes remaining in the 1st.  The second quarter was all USC as QB Mark Sanchez scored three times, once on the ground and twice through the air.  The third quarter seemed to be a resting quarter as both team defenses held ground.  The Nittany Lions would attempt a comeback in the 4th as they put up 17 points to USC’s 7 but the margin was too wide for Coach Paterno’s team to cover and the Nittany Lions fell 38-24.

In 2010, the 10-2 Ohio State Buckeyes met up against the 10-2 Oregon Ducks in the 22nd and final Rose Bowl to be televised by ABC Television (ESPN takes over in 2011).  These two teams met once before, in the 1958 Rose Bowl which Ohio State won 10-7.  In the 2010 matchup, the Buckeyes again won only this time by a score of 26-17.

Be sure to get your tickets to the 2011 Rose Bowl before they’re all gone!