12.27.18

RETURN TO
TRADITION
OHIO STATE AND WASHINGTON TO MEET IN CLASSIC
BIG TEN VS. PAC 12 ROSE BOWL MATCHUP
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
Home to many national championship games, the
Rose Bowl this year resumes its tradition role as
home to the Big Ten vs. Pac -12 championship
game when the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes take on
the No. 9 Washington Huskies on New Year’s Day.
“No disrespect to the other bowl games, because
they’re awesome, but the Rose Bowl is the one
we’ve always looked forward to,” Buckeye Coach
Urban Meyer, who will be coaching his last game
for Ohio State on Jan. 1, told ESPN after it was announced
the Buckeyes were headed to Pasadena.
The New Year pairing became official when Ohio
State was left out of the four-team College Football
Playoff, which was announced on Dec. 2. The Huskies
earned their trip to Pasadena with a 10-3 victory over Utah
in the Pac-12 championship game.
The classic matchup, which is sure to please college football purists, marks the
first time a Big Ten team and a Pac-12 team has faced off in the Rose Bowl since
the College Football Playoff system began in 2014.
If Ohio State wins in the Grandaddy of Them All, it will serve as
a major achievement on Meyer’s coaching bucket list. Despite
his accomplishments, the 54-year old coach has never led a
team to the Rose Bowl.
But even if he loses, Meyer will be considered one of the
greatest college coaches in the modern era. After revitalizing
the football program at Bowling Green in 2001,
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12.27.18 | PASADENA WEEKLY 31