ESPN details the future of the Rose Bowl following USC, UCLA move to Big Ten

USC and UCLA shocked the college football world when it was revealed they would be taking their programs to the Big Ten. Now, the future of the Rose Bowl has come into question, but ESPN has all the answered as it pertains to one of the biggest games on the college football calendar.

In a piece written by Andrea Adelson, Kyle Bonagura and Adam Rittenberg, ESPN detailed the future of the Rose Bowl following the exodus of the Pac-12’s two biggest brands.

“That relationship (Big Ten and Pac-12) was best signified by the Rose Bowl, which has mostly paired teams from the two conferences since the end of World War II,” reported ESPN. “Longtime Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany often called the Rose Bowl the league’s most important external partner. USC has made 34 Rose Bowl appearances, 14 more than any other school, while UCLA has made the bowl game 12 times and plays its home games at the Rose Bowl stadium. Warren and Kliavkoff both voted against the most recent College Football Playoff expansion push for reasons that included uncertainty about what would happen with the Rose Bowl.

“The uncertainty about the future of the Rose Bowl’s place in the postseason ecosystem likely made concerns about the impact on the game from USC and UCLA’s moves less pertinent. The thought being that if the playoff is going to expand as expected, the Rose Bowl was already going to be forced to reinvent itself in order to maintain a meaningful presence.”

Continuing, ESPN added that Amy Wainscott — the Tournament of Roses’ 2023 President and Chairman of the Board — acknowledged the murky future of the Rose Bowl in a letter sent to volunteer members of the tournament on Friday.

“We know we must be flexible and open to changes as we work to ensure that the tradition of the Rose Bowl Game will continue into the future of college football,” Wainscott said, per ESPN.

After originally making an Alliance, the Pac-12 can’t be happy with the Big Ten for poaching their two biggest programs. While one school of thought is that the Big Ten couldn’t turn them down — USC and UCLA reached out to them and if the Big Ten denied them, the two programs could’ve gone elsewhere — that doesn’t make the situation sting any less for the Pac-12.

Nevertheless, the Rose Bowl was on their way to be forced to adjust the parameters in the future anyways. Although it’s going to take some getting used to, the showdown will remain a premier event — no matter the teams involved.