| 2004 Rose Bowl presented by Citi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 90th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Matt Leinart (USC QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | USC by 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Spirit of Troy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Steve Usechek (Big 12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Spirit of Troy Michigan Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 93,849 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$14 million[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson (play-by-play) Dan Fouts (analyst) Todd Harris (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2004 Rose Bowl was acollege footballbowl game held on January 1, 2004 at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California. It was the 90thRose Bowl Game. TheUSC Trojans, champions of thePacific-10 Conference, defeated theMichigan Wolverines, champions of theBig Ten Conference, 28-14. USCquarterbackMatt Leinart was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game.[2]
The events leading up to the 2004 Rose Bowl were the subject ofcontroversy. Although USC was ranked #1 in both theAP Poll and theCoaches Poll, the Trojans finished #3 in the final BCS standings due to a weaker schedule and one defeat – to unrankedCalifornia – during the regular season, and thus did not qualify to go theBCS National Championship Game, and played in the2004 Sugar Bowl. Meanwhile, theOklahoma Sooners played a stronger schedule in their undefeated regular season, but lost on December 5, 2003 in the2003 Big 12 Championship Game to the #8-rankedKansas State Wildcats. By virtue of their dominance through the entire regular season, Oklahoma remained #1 in the finalBCS rankings issued at the outset of the bowl season. Oklahoma would lose, 21-14, to theLSU Tigers, #2 in both polls and the BCS rankings, in the Sugar Bowl game.
On October 21, 2003 – Tournament of Roses President Michael K. Riffey chose 17-year-old Megan Chinen, a senior atLa Salle High School & a resident ofPasadena, California to become the 86th Rose Queen to reign over the 115th Rose Parade and the 90th Rose Bowl Game on New Year's Day.
The game was presided over by the 2004 Tournament of Roses Royal Court and the Rose Parade Grand MarshalJohn Williams. Members of the court were: Princesses Stephanie Barnes, La Canada Flintridge,La Canada High School; Katherine Koch, Pasadena, John Marshall Fundamental High School; Erinne La Brie, Arcadia,Arcadia High School; Natalie Matsumoto, San Marino,San Marino High School; Christina Mills, Pasadena, La Salle High School; and Lauren Stassel, La Canada Flintridge,Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.
Michigan opened at home in 2003 winning big overCentral Michigan andHouston. A 38-0 shutout ofNotre Dame propelled the Wolverines to a #3 ranking, but they lost the next week atOregon, 31-27. Michigan bounced back to beatIndiana, but then lost another close road game atIowa, 30-27. Michigan played next on a Friday evening, October 10, at theHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in a battle for theLittle Brown Jug againstMinnesota. Minnesota came into the game ranked #17 and Michigan was ranked #20 in one of the most highly anticipated Michigan-Minnesota matchups in years. Down 21 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Michigan put together its greatest comeback in school history to win 38-35.[3] The Wolverines won their next four games overIllinois, #10Purdue, #9Michigan State, andNorthwestern and rose to #5 in the rankings before their annual showdown with theOhio State Buckeyes. In front of a record crowd of 112,118 atMichigan Stadium, the Wolverines beat the #4 ranked Buckeyes 35-21 to win the Big Ten championship outright.
The Trojans opened the season winning at #6Auburn, 23-0. Their only loss of the season was a triple overtime loss atCal, 34-31 on September 27. Later in the season, USC beat Notre Dame 45-14, scoring the most points allowed by the Irish insince 1960, and routedArizona 45-0 in the first shutout of the Wildcats in 146 games.
Former University of Michigan coachBo Schembechler was in attendance, and remarked, "Didn't watch it", when asked what he thought of the 2003 game and also about the Nebraska-Miami Rose Bowl in 2002.[4] The Trojans wore a "54" sticker to commemorate Drean Rucker, an incoming freshman linebacker who drowned in July 2003. Former USC Trojans safetyTroy Polamalu also was in attendance and was on the USC sideline. He was also shown embracing coachPete Carroll at the game's end.
LSU defeated Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl. The Coaches Poll chose the winner of that game, the LSU Tigers, as the BCS National Champions. The AP Poll, however, selected the Rose Bowl champion USC Trojans resulting in the first split national title since the1997–98 season, the year before the creation of theBowl Championship Series, and the only split title of the BCS era. The BCS ranking formula was immediately reworked and simplified to place greater emphasis on the human polls to avoid a repeat scenario.