Rose Bowl Forecast: Rain Expected During Indiana-Alabama Showdown

The Hoosiers and the Crimson Tide will have to battle the elements as well as each other at the Rose Bowl.

Rain is in the forecast for the 2026 Rose Bowl. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Rose Bowl will look quite a bit different this year.

On Thursday, No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Alabama face off in the Granddaddy of Them All in Pasadena, but the weather won’t be what we typically expect from Southern California in early January. A massive storm has been rolling through the region over the past few days, dumping buckets of rain over the typically sun-drenched landscape.

Beginning Wednesday evening, Los Angeles and the surrounding area were hit with persistent storms that lasted into Thursday morning. It is currently projected to rain on and off up until kickoff of the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. ET.

It got really ugly Thursday morning:

The rain at the Rose Bowl 😱 ☔

(via @CollegeGameDay) pic.twitter.com/R5cmw5jeeQ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2026

Rain is expected to level off around that time, and there is a chance the clouds may lift during the game. The storm has left the parking lot at the Rose Bowl a muddy mess, as Apple TV’s Tricia Whitaker documented.

We will not be deterred.

IU fans waited a lifetime for this… what’s a little flood?

This is the parking lot at the Rose Bowl 😂 pic.twitter.com/pibAlO3RO4

— Tricia Whitaker (@TriciaWhitaker) January 1, 2026

We’ll see how the wet conditions play into the game as the Hoosiers and Crimson Tide battle for a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

History of rain at the Rose Bowl

It hasn’t rained during the Rose Bowl since 2006. That year, Vince Young and Texas beat USC 41-38 in the BCS championship game, and the rain didn’t impact the contest much.

The most famous Rose Bowl rain game came in 1955, when Ohio State and USC faced a deluge that severely impacted play. The Buckeyes were victorious 20-7, in the middle of the first rainstorm to hit during the Rose Bowl in 50 years. The turf was a muddy mess, and Ohio State quarterback Dave Leggett only attempted 11 passes, completing six. It was Woody Hayes’s first appearance at the Rose Bowl, and the victory handed the Buckeyes a share of the national title with UCLA.

Thursday’s game isn’t expected to see that kind of weather, but things could get sloppy.

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