Since the Rose Bowl made its debut way back in 1902, this cornerstone of college bowl game history has launched many a college football legacy; 18 Heisman Trophy Winners, 28 national champions, 190 consensus All-Americans, and finally 95 college football legends honored by their induction into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. Given all of the facts, history, and tradition of the Rose Bowl, everyone seems to agree that the game’s nickname, “The Granddaddy of Them All”, is more than accurate.
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Since 1947, the Rose Bowl game has been played under an exclusive agreement between the Tournament of Roses organization and the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, and has been sold out each and every year since. The 1998 Rose Bowl game was the 52nd anniversary under that agreement, making it the oldest tradition of its type in college conference and bowl history. Additionally, once having become a part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the Rose Bowl has also hosted the BCS National Championship Game in 2002 and 2006, and is once again scheduled to do so in 2010.
The BCS is a series of five college football bowl games, and created with the intention of ending up with the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country facing off to determine a true National Champion, while providing four other highly competitive bowl games between eight more of the highest ranked college football teams in the country. The five BCS games are the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game.
In 2007, a separate BCS National Championship Game was established and scheduled to be held after January 1. As a result of this new agreement, the Tournament of Roses will host two BCS Bowls this postseason – the 96th Rose Bowl Game on January 1, 2010, at its traditional time, and the Citi BCS National Championship Game on January 7.
Being “The Granddaddy of Them All” seems to put everything into very prestigious perspective, so is there really any other college football bowl game or celebration for the faithful college fane to attend? With the tradition and pageantry of this legendary game, you need to get your New Year’s Day tickets for the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.