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Badgers in the Rose Bowl!
Huzzah! The Badgers are heading back to the Rose Bowl!
This year will mark the eighth time Wisconsin has competed in Pasadena and Badger fans have invaded the California coast.
Need some quick stats to dazzle your bowl game party guests? We’re here to help. On Wisconsin!
- Wisconsin first played in the Rose Bowl in 1953, against USC. The Badgers lost 7-0 in the second-lowest-scoring Rose Bowl in history (the lowest-scoring was the 1922 game, which ended in a 0-0 tie).
- In the 1953 game, Wisconsin running back/linebacker Alan Ameche rushed for 133 yards on 28 carries. Ameche was later inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and also won the Heisman Trophy.
- In Wisconsin’s next appearance, in 1960, the Badgers lost to the Washington Huskies 44-8, despite being 6.5-point favorites to win.
- Wisconsin and USC had a rematch in the 1963 Rose Bowl, which was the highest-scoring game in Bowl history. Wisconsin lost again, 42-37.
- After a 31-year absence, Wisconsin returned to the Rose Bowl in 1994 and was finally victorious, beating UCLA 21-16 (despite a UCLA receiver setting Rose Bowl records for receptions and receiving yards).
- Wisconsin was again victorious in 1999 and 2000, beating, respectively, UCLA and Stanford. Badger legend Ron Dayne was named Rose Bowl Player of the Game both years, and in 1999 tied the Rose Bowl record with 4 touchdowns. Dayne is only the third player in Rose Bowl history to be named Player of the Game more than once.
- With the Badgers’ next appearance, in 2010, coach Bret Bielema became the eighth person to both play and coach in a Rose Bowl game.
Visit our 1963 Rose Bowl Flickr set for more Badger-Rose Bowl nostalgia.
For more information about UW-Madison campus history, contact uwarchiv@library.wisc.edu.
