Who plays in the Rose Bowl?

The Rose Bowl game is an annual collegiate football game that takes place in the eponymous Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. The game takes place every year on January 1. However, if the New Year is a Sunday, then the Rose Bowl game is held on the 2nd of January. Among the various post-season bowl games, the Rose Bowl was the first one to be established and is therefore also dubbed as the “The Granddaddy of Them All".

The Leishman Trophy is awarded to the winners of the game. The game is also a part of the annual College Football Playoffs. Previously, the game featured as a semi-final for the playoffs once every three years. However, from 2024 onwards, with the expansion of the Playoffs, the match will feature as a quarter-final of the tournament every year.

Which team qualifies for the Rose Bowl game?

Up until 2024, the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences competed against each other in the Rose Bowl game. This format had been a mainstay since 1947 but changed a bit in 2015, when the game became a part of the College Football playoffs. Thereafter, the game featured as a semi-final for the CFP every three years. In the years when it was not a part of the CFP, the tournament reverted back to the match between the winner of Big Ten and Pac-12.

However, when either of these winners was already in the playoffs, the next ranked team of this conference competed in the Rose Bowl. Beginning from the 2024-25 season, the Rose Bowl game is a part of the College Football playoff Quarter Finals. In the new format, the two teams are decided as per the seeding by the CFP.

Also Read: List of Winners of the Rose Bowl Game

What is the Rose Bowl's nickname?

The Rose Bowl game is also known as 'The Granddaddy of them All.' While college football is more than 150 years old, the first organized Bowl game was organized in 1902, as per KSL.com, and it was the Rose Bowl. A few decades later, the game was made available on television and the late broadcaster Keith Jackson gave the game the name “The Granddaddy of Them All." As the Rose Bowl was the pioneer of the dozens of Bowl games today, it makes sense for it to be named as such.

Why is the Rose Bowl called the Rose Bowl?

Pasadena’s Rose Bowl stadium was known for the Tournament of Roses festival in the 1890s. This was a result of the fact that California is known for its flowers, as per the Pasadena Library of Answers. After the stadium was built in 1922, it was then called the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Which team owns the Rose Bowl stadium?

The Rose Bowl Stadium is owned by the City of Pasadena, California. No college football team owns the Rose Bowl stadium but it is the home to the UCLA Bruins Football team. It is managed by the Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC), a non-profit organization created by the city to oversee the stadium's operations and maintenance.

While the stadium is famously associated with the annual Rose Bowl Game, it also hosts other events such as concerts, soccer matches, and the UCLA Bruins football team's home games.