For those who have been, there's no mistaking what the best venue in all of college football is, and by extension, the best bowl experience. I've been lucky enough to go to Pasadena to witness the Rose Bowl twice myself and it's something college football fans, scratch that, every sports fan should do. Heck, simply being a part of the human race should have a pull on what you'll experience there.
There's nothing like the setting at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, especially when the sun begins to set. It's pure magic.
However, the Rose Bowl with all of its traditions and pageantry has often thrown a wrench into things when it comes to the college football postseason, and it might be happening again. According to what was first reported by ESPN, the bowl has requested to keep the traditional Jan. 1 date, and would prefer to also keep the kickoff time of 2 p.m. ET in the new, expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and is "optimistic" that can be accommodated. However, that would also mean that the Rose Bowl would not be a part of any of the semifinal rotation and might be a permanent quarterfinal venue.
"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 (to keep the same date)," said Farber in the ESPN report. "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."
With the Pac-12 now dismantled and four of the teams off to the Big Ten, Farber acknowledges that change has to occur since the two conferences that were contractually a part of the game no longer make that happen, but still, the tradition of the Rose Parade and the timeslot is important to a lot of folks and there are still some that hold the parade in higher esteem than the game itself.
Spoke to Rose Bowl management committee chair Laura Farber at Big Ten media days.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 23, 2024
The Rose Bowl has proposed to CFP that it keep its time & date - 5 pm ET, Jan. 1 - in future playoffs. Could mean it being a permanent quarterfinal game.
"We're optimistic," she told @YahooSports
One thing is for certain. The Rose Bowl still needs to be a big part of college football, and thus, a part of the College Football Playoff. I hate that it might be minimized in its importance to what happens on the field and hope that everyone can figure it out because there's nothing like it.
