Big Ten Official Says Rose Bowl Was Diminished by Playoff

Many questions emerged following Thursday’s news of USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. 

What does the future of college football look like? What will happen to the Alliance? What will the Rose Bowl Game look like? The last question led to much speculation about the future of the 100-plus-year-old matchup that traditionally pits the Big Ten champion against the Pac-12 champion. 

To be clear, there has been no formal announcement from anyone, including the Rose Bowl, about its future or whether there will be a change in conference affiliation. 

But, a Big Ten source told The Athletic after the USC-UCLA news broke that “we’re literally nuking the Rose Bowl. But what’s the point of the Rose Bowl if the whole point is the Playoff?”

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The Big Ten officially voted to add the two California schools to the conference on Thursday night, and sources told Sports Illustrated‘s Ross Dellenger that it was an unanimous decision. Following the vote, several schools—most from the Pac-12—contacted the Big Ten about joining the league, though no further expansion is expected imminently.

The Pac-12 said in its statement Thursday night following the official announcement of USC and UCLA’s move that they were “extremely surprised and disappointed.” But, in a new statement Friday afternoon, it said “the Pac-12 Board of Directors met this morning and authorized the Conference to explore all expansion options.” 

The question still remains how this will impact the Rose Bowl, if at all. With college football’s focus largely on making the Playoff, individual bowls have lost some of its shine, paling in comparison to the coveted CFP semifinal games.