Has Alabama ever played in the Rose Bowl? Exploring the Crimson Tide bowl history and appearances

College football powerhouses Alabama and Michigan will square up in the Rose Bowl on Monday to secure a place in the national championship game. The two teams had a brilliant regular season and hope to end it with the national crown.

Known as the “Granddaddy of Them All,” the Rose Bowl is the oldest bowl game in college football and holds a lot of significance in the landscape. Here, let’s examine the history of Alabama football in the historic bowl game.

Has Alabama ever played in the Rose Bowl?

The Rose Bowl is intricately linked to the largely successful history of Alabama in college football. A huge significance is attributed to the bowl game by the Crimson Tide that it was mentioned in the school’s fight song, “Yea, Alabama.”

Alabama has made seven appearances in the Rose Bowl. The program first played the bowl game in 1926 and went on to make five more appearances until 1946. Since then, The Crimson Tide has only been to the Rose Bowl once.

Alabama’s Rose Bowl appearances

Dates	Opponents	Results
January 1, 1926	Washington	20-19
January 1, 1927	Stanford	7-7
January 1, 1931	Washington State	24-0
January 1, 1935	Stanford	29-13
January 1, 1938	California	0-13
January 1, 1946	USC	34-14
January 1, 2021	Notre Dame	31-14

Michigan’s Rose Bowl appearances

Michigan has an even much longer history in the Rose Bowl than Alabama. The Wolverines participated in the inaugural edition of the bowl game and have gone on to play in it 19 more times.

Dates	Opponents	Results
January 1, 1902	Stanford	49-0
January 1, 1948	USC	49-0
January 1, 1951	California	14-6
January 1, 1965	Oregon State	34-7
January 1, 1970	USC	3-10
January 1, 1972	Stanford	12-13
January 1, 1977	USC	6-14
January 1, 1978	Washington	20-27
January 1, 1979	USC	10-17
January 1, 1981	Washington	23-6
January 1, 1983	UCLA	14-24
January 1, 1987	Arizona State	15-22
January 1, 1989	USC	22-14
January 1, 1990	USC	10-17
January 1, 1992	Washington	14-34
January 1, 1993	Washington	38-31
January 1, 1998	Washington State	21-16
January 1, 2004	USC	14-28
January 1, 2005	Texas	37-38
January 1, 2007	USC	18-32

Who has the most Rose Bowl appearances?

USC is the team with the most appearances in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans have played in the bowl game a total of 34 times, winning 25 of those and losing nine. They last made an appearance in 2017 against Penn State.