Topic summary

1949 Rose Bowl

DateJanuary 1, 1949Season1948StadiumRose BowlLocationPasadena, CaliforniaMVPFrank Aschenbrenner
(Northwestern HB)FavoriteNorthwestern by 6½ pointsRefereeJames M. Cain (Pacific Coast;
split crew: Pacific Coast, Big Nine)Attendance93,000

The 1949 Rose Bowl was the 35th of the college footballbowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, January 1. The seventh-rankedNorthwestern Wildcats of the Big Nine Conference defeated the #4 California Golden Bears, champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, 20–14.

Northwestern halfback Frank Aschenbrenner was named the Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.

It was the third Rose Bowl since the Big Nine and PCC made an exclusive agreement to match their conference champions; the Big Nine team won for the third straight year.

Northwestern has played in just one Rose Bowl since, 47 years later in January 1996. Until the 2013 Gator Bowl, this was the program's only bowl game win.