1976 Rose Bowl

The 1976 Rose Bowl was the 62nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The UCLA Bruins of the Pacific-8 Conference defeated the top-ranked and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference 23–10 in a rare bowl rematch of a regular season game. UCLA quarterback John Sciarra was named the Player of the Game.

This was the first post season that teams from the Big Ten and Pac-8 could appear in other bowl games since the Cotton Bowl in January 1949. Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes made his final appearance in the Rose Bowl, as Michigan represented the Big Ten in the next three editions.

The Rose Bowl was first played in January 1902, making it the oldest college football bowl game. It was then known as the Tournament East–West Football Game, reflecting its place as an event during the Tournament of Roses Parade. In the first playing, held at Tournament Park in Pasadena, Michigan defeated Stanford, 49–0. The Rose Bowl Stadium was built in 1922 and hosted its first Rose Bowl Game in 1923, which saw USC defeat Penn State. The Big Nine Conference, and the Pacific Coast Conference entered an agreement to send their champions to meet, beginning in the 1947 Rose Bowl. The Big Ten and AAWU agreed to provide teams for the game beginning with the 1963 Rose Bowl. The game would match the champions of the Big Ten and Pacific 8 conference.

This was the second meeting between the teams that season; Ohio State handed UCLA its first loss of the season, 41–20, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 4. After the game, Hayes prophetically told his Buckeyes that they would be facing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl; they were the only opponent to score more than fourteen points against Ohio State, and they did it twice. This would be the fourth meeting in the history of the schools, with Ohio State having a 2-1 record against UCLA. In 1962, an unranked UCLA defeated a #1 ranked Ohio State team at the Coliseum.

Hayes brought an 11–0 Ohio State team to Pasadena, featuring two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. It was a record fourth consecutive appearance for the 62-year-old Hayes, and his eighth and final appearance in the Rose Bowl. It was also a record fourth Rose Bowl start for Griffin; he was the only player to start in four until joined by Brian Cushing of USC in January 2009.

Ohio State capped an undefeated regular season with a 21–14 win over rival Michigan in Ann Arbor for Hayes' last outright Big Ten championship, and also his last victory over former assistant Bo Schembechler. The Wolverines held the Buckeyes scoreless in the second and third quarters. Tied at 14–14, and having already tied two non-conference opponents, the Wolverines needed a win to advance to Pasadena. With less than three minutes remaining, Michigan's freshman quarterback Rick Leach was intercepted by sophomore safety Ray Griffin, who returned it thirty yards down to the 3-yard line, and fullback Pete Johnson ran it in for the winning touchdown. Michigan was the Big Ten runner-up for a fourth straight year; in the previous three, they stayed home during bowl season because of conference rules. This year, #5 Michigan (8–1–2) was invited to the Orange Bowl to face #3 Oklahoma, the Big Eight champion.

Ohio State was a heavy favorite to win the Rose Bowl, by two touchdowns or more.

In his second season as head coach, Dick Vermeil made his only Rose Bowl appearance; weeks later he left for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. In addition to the 41–20 loss to Ohio State, UCLA also fell at home to Washington 17–13 and was tied by Air Force 20–20, but won their other six conference games, including a fumble-plagued 25–22 win over cross town rival USC to clinch the Rose Bowl berth. In that Friday night after Thanksgiving game, the Bruins fumbled 11 times and lost 8 of them, but their maligned defense bailed them out time and time again.