The 2024 Rose Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on January 1, 2024, at the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. The 110th annual Rose Bowl was one of the semifinals of the 2023–24 College Football Playoff (CFP) and featured two of the four teams selected by the CFP Selection Committee—the fourth-ranked

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

of the SEC and the first-ranked

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Michigan won the game 27–20, shortly after

Blake Corum Blake Nolan Corum (born November 25, 2000) is an American football running back for the Michigan Wolverines. He won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football and was named a unanimous All-American in 2022 after rushing for over 1,400 yards with 18 touc ...

's 17-yard touchdown run in overtime, and stopping Alabama on downs. Michigan advanced to face the winner of the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

, the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

, in the CFP National Championship game on January 8. With 27.2 million viewers on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, the 2024 Rose Bowl was the most-viewed College Football Playoff semifinal game since

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, as well as one of the top ten cable telecasts of all time. The Rose Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game began at approximately 2:00 p.m. PST and was aired on ESPN. Sponsored by

Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...

, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential.

College Football Playoff

Teams

The game featured Michigan, undefeated champion of the

, and Alabama, one-loss champion of the SEC. This was the sixth meeting between the two teams, with their most recent meeting being in the 2020 Citrus Bowl, where Alabama beat Michigan by a score of 35–16. Entering the game, Alabama led the overall series, 3–2. Alabama wore white jerseys while Michigan wore blue jerseys. The teams were welcomed to Southern California at

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Di ...

on December 27. The teams entered the game as the two winningest programs in college football history.

Michigan

Michigan went undefeated in their 12-game regular season. Due to punishment from recruiting violations and a sign-stealing scandal, they were without their head coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

for six of those games. They still defeated their arch-rival

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, 30–24, allowing them to advance to the

2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game The 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 2, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the 13th edition of the Big Ten Football Championship Game and determined the champion of ...

, where they defeated

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, 26–0. Entering the game, Michigan was one of just four undefeated FBS teams, at 13–0. This was Michigan's 21st appearance in the Rose Bowl—they were 8–12 in prior editions. The Wolverines lost their previous three Rose Bowl appearances, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

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and

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. Their last Rose Bowl win came in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, where they defeated

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

by a 21–16 score to win the national championship.

Alabama

Alabama went 11–1 in their 12-game regular season. A 34–24 loss in Week 2 to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

followed by a narrow victory over USF caused them to tumble down the rankings to No. 13 in the

AP poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

, but they managed to recover and reach a record of 10–1 entering their

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

game against

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. Alabama won the game, 27–24, thanks to a 31-yard touchdown pass from

Jalen Milroe Jalen Oluwaseun Isaiah Milroe (born December 13, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. High school career Milroe attended Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas. As a junior, he threw for 2,689 yards and 29 touch ...

to Isaiah Bond on 4th-and-goal. In the

2023 SEC Championship Game The 2023 SEC Championship Game was a college football game that was played on December 2, 2023, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the 32nd edition of the SEC Championship Game. The contest featured the Alabama Crimson Tide, t ...

, they defeated two-time defending national champion

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, 27–24, ending the latter team's 29-game winning streak. This was Alabama’s eighth Rose Bowl appearance (

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, 1927,

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

). They were 5–1–1 in prior Rose Bowls.

Game summary

Statistics

Hall of Fame

Prior to the game, Cliff Montgomery, Columbia;

Kirk Herbstreit Kirk Edward Herbstreit (; born August 19, 1969) is an American sportscaster and former college football player. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's '' College GameDay'', a television program covering college football, and he also provides color c ...

, ESPN and Ohio State; and

Lincoln Kennedy Tamerlane Lincoln Kennedy (born Tamerlane Fizel Kennedy Jr.; February 12, 1971) is a former football offensive tackle. He played college football at Washington, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. A first-round selection in the 19 ...

, Washington, were inducted to the 2023 class of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Michigan Wolverines bowl game navbox Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Rose Bowl Rose Bowl