The Rose Bowl is seeking to get out of the College Football Playoff semifinal rotation starting in 2026, sources tell CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. If bowl officials are successful, the Granddaddy of Them All will permanently move to its traditional Jan. 1 date.
“Because we’re the only bowl that has the date as part of our brand in the New Year’s Six bowls, it’s really imperative for us and important for us,” Rose Bowl management committee chair Laura Farber told ESPN. “We don’t know when there will be a longform agreement. We’re hopeful it will be sooner than later, but that depends on when the CFP has everything ready to go.”
This is not the Rose Bowl’s first attempt to keep its traditional spot. According to Dodd, officials held out for the game’s traditional Jan. 1, 5 p.m. ET, kickoff time during original negotiations for the 12-team playoff, but they were told no.
“(This is) not new news,” one College Football Playoff bowl official familiar with the talks told Dodd.
With the new 12-team CFP playoff starting this season, four New Year’s Six bowls will host the quarterfinals on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The other two bowls will play host to the semifinals the following week. The Rose Bowl is scheduled to be a quarterfinal matchup for the next two seasons.
The Rose Bowl was first played in Pasadena, California in 1902 and became an annual event in 1916. It has been played in the stadium bearing its name every year other than 1941-42 (moved to Durham, North Carolina due to World War II) and 2021 (moved to Arlington, Texas due to COVID).
Until 2002, Every Rose Bowl game featured a matchup between a team from the Pac-12 and Big Ten. That year it played host to the BCS National Championship Game between Nebraska and Miami. Since then it has been part of the BCS and later the College Football Playoff rotation. Last year’s game saw eventual national champion Michigan hold off Alabama in the semifinal of the last four-team CFP.
