By Woodrow Carroll
A quick glance at the four teams left in the hunt for college football’s National Championship quickly tells us we are certainly looking at the game’s blue bloods. Each of the final four teams left in the running, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas, has laid claim to one or more National Championships in the past.
Time for a bit of historical perspective! For many years, the Rose Bowl was the only game available to the college gridiron greats, both teams and players, who wanted further glory once the regular season had run its course. Now, take a glance at some of the schools that played in the Rose Bowl in the 1920s.
The 1921 Rose Bowl saw California confronting Ohio State. It was not an auspicious bowl-game debut for the Ohio State Buckeyes who were shutout, 28-0.
Two years later, in 1923, after Ohio State suffered at the hands of California, it was Penn State losing 14-3 to Southern California. A game notable for first use of the term “Rose Bowl Game.” It was also the first appearance of the Southern Cal Trojans who, in later years, seemed like a fixture at the event.
Moving on to 1925, it was time Notre Dame and the “The Four Horsemen” who were going up against Stanford. Turns out that it was one of the Horsemen in the person of Elmer Leyden who did the most damage. Leyden scored on a short touchdown run and returned two interceptions for scores. Notre Dame won the game, 27-10.
If you are wondering about Texas and the Rose Bowl, it was not until 2005 before the Longhorns made it to Pasadena. Back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2005 and 2006 found the Longhorns winning thrillers each time.
The 2005 Rose Bowl saw Texas edge Michigan, 38-37. The following season in a game with the National Championship at stake, it was Texas, 41-38, over Southern Cal.
In this year’s Rose Bowl, Ohio State knocked off Oregon, 41-21, in the NCAA playoffs. It provided Ohio State with revenge for a regular-season defeat at the hands of the Oregon Ducks. The Oregon loss also removed the last undefeated team from the ranks of the FBS schools. And, just to show us the changing nature of college football, the Rose Bowl meeting between Ohio State and Oregon was the first time two teams from the same conference ended up in the Rose Bowl. Oregon, is now part of the Big Ten fraternity.
Speaking of undefeated, in the 2023 season the Michigan Wolverines were 15-0 on their way to the National Championship.
Two of Michigan’s last three postseason games have been against Alabama. A year ago, the Wolverines beat Alabama, 27-20, in overtime then handed Washington a 34-13 beating in the National Championship Game. This season Michigan defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide, 19-13, in the ReliaQuest Bowl. It was a nice way to end the 2024 season.
When it came to bowl game success, the MAC fared very well. Seven MAC schools earned bowl invites and five were victorious. Northern Illinois did its part by beating Fresno State, 28-20, in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Northern Illinois has made known its intention to join the Mountain West Conference starting in July of 2026 as a football only member. We will know more once some of the details are finalized.