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There is no bigger college football bowl game out there than the Rose Bowl. The one they call “The Grandaddy of Them All” has been played since 1902, making it the oldest currently running bowl. For years, the game has been played every New Year’s Day, with few exceptions.
For 55 years it’s featured top teams from both the Big Ten and Pac-12 squaring off, and its Jan. 1, 5 p.m. ET television window is iconic. It’s the most-watched non-College Football Playoff bowl almost every year.
But now that’s about to change.
With the College Football Playoff set to expand from four teams to 12, the postseason tournament recently offered the Rose Bowl an ultimatum: you either join us, or you’re against us.
To join the College Football Playoff, the game would need to concede its agreement with the Big Ten and Pac-12 and change its television slot.
Under the new agreement, it would join the rest of the New Year’s Six bowls (Peach, Cotton, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar) on a playoff rota. Four games will serve as playoff quarterfinals, with the other two serving as semifinals on a rotating basis. Now it appears that the Rose Bowl as finally caved, allowing CFP expansion to begin in 2024.
Rose Bowl Agrees To Join Expanded College Football Playoff To Begin In 2024
CBS college football writer Dennis Dodd reports that the Rose Bowl has agreed to opt-in to the new playoff format.
The Rose Bowl has signed an agreement with the College Football Playoff that paves the way for the event to expand to 12 teams starting in 2024, sources confirm to CBS Sports. The CFP had given the Rose Bowl until the end of the week — at the latest — to agree to terms the bowl had thus far been unwilling to accept.
With the Rose Bowl now in the fold, a formal announcement of a 12-team playoff being held in 2024 and 2025 is expected imminently. The new format was initially agreed upon by the CFP Board of Managers in September. – via CBS Sports
Had the Rose Bowl refused, expansion likely would have been delayed. The move could have cost the CFP nearly $500 million in added revenue. It could also have kept the Rose Bowl out altogether.
Instead, everyone goes home happy and we keep The Grandaddy Of Them All on the big stage.