Prior to the game, former Oregon and Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek, recently retired Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Darryl Dunn, 1977 Rose Bowl Game MVP Vince Evans (USC) and 1987 All-American Lorenzo White (Michigan State) will be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.[2]
Teams
Based on conference tie-ins, the game will feature Big Ten Conference team Penn State and Pac-12 Conference champion Utah. Utah earned their spot by defeating #4 USC in the Pac-12 Championship by a score of 47–24 on December 2. Penn State earned their spot after Ohio State and Michigan made it to the College Football Playoff. This will be Utah's second consecutive Rose Bowl, with an appearance in last year's edition against the Ohio State Buckeyes, while this will be Penn State's 5th Rose Bowl game, most recently playing in the 2017 edition against the USC Trojans.
This game will mark the Nittany Lions' 100th anniversary of their first Rose Bowl Game. They were defeated by Southern California 14–3 on January 1, 1923. This will be the first time Utah and Penn State have ever played each other.[3]
The Nittany Lions earned their 5th overall Rose Bowl bid after they finished the regular season as the 3rd highest ranked team from the Big Ten Conference. The two higher ranked teams in the Big Ten, Michigan and Ohio State, both reached the College Football Playoff, giving the Nittany Lions the trip to Pasadena. Penn State finished their regular season with an overall 10–2 record, 7–2 in Big Ten play. Their losses came to Michigan and Ohio State in the 7th and 9th weeks of the regular season, respectively.
After winning their 2nd-straight Pac-12 championship, this will be the second Rose Bowl appearance for the Utes. Utah finished their regular season with a 9–3 overall record, 7–2 in Pac-12 play. Their losses came to Florida, UCLA(in the same stadium), and Oregon. The Utes faced USC in the Pac-12 Championship, a rematch between the teams. Utah had defeated USC on October 15 by a 43-42 score (USC's only regular season loss), and defeated them again for the Pac-12 title, 47–24. The Utes will enter the Rose Bowl with an overall 10–3 record.
