The1968 Rose Bowl was the 54thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California, on Monday, January 1. TheUSC Trojans of thePacific-8 Conference defeated theIndiana Hoosiers of theBig Ten Conference, 14–3. USC tailbackO. J. Simpson was named thePlayer of the Game.^[3][4][5]

Through 2025, this remains the only Rose Bowl appearance forIndiana.^[6] USC was a two touchdown favorite;^[1][2] this was the first Rose Bowl infifteen years in which the West Coast team was favored. In the intervening fourteen games, the Big Ten had won ten and lost four (1960,1961,1963,1966).

Being an even-numbered year for the bowl game, Indiana wore their crimson jerseys as the home team and USC wore their white shirts as the designated visitors.

Thetop-ranked andPac-8 champion Trojans came into the game with a 9–1 record, losing only atOregon State in the November mud in a close 3–0 game.^[7][8] They fell to fourth in the AP poll, then reclaimed the top spot a week later after a close 21–20 win overrival and then-#1UCLA in their heavily-anticipated conference finale,^[9][10] securing another trip to the Big Ten/Pac-8 classic. Runner-up Oregon State had a conference loss (atWashington) and a tie (at UCLA),^[11] and the deflated UCLA Bruins lost again the following week 32–14 at home to non-conferenceSyracuse.^[12]

The Trojans were led by their powerful junior tailbackO. J. Simpson, ajunior college transfer fromSan Francisco.^[9] Unlike the Big Ten and the oldPacific Coast Conference, the Pac-8 did not have a "no-repeat" rule; this was the second of four consecutive Rose Bowl appearances for the Trojans.

The fourth-ranked and co-Big Ten champion Hoosiers also came into the game with a 9–1 record, losing toMinnesota,^[13][14] a week before defeatingPurdue.^[15][16] A three-way league title championship was created when all three finished with 6–1 league records, each defeating and losing to one of the other. Purdue was ineligible because of the "no-repeat" rule by the Big Ten and the "Rose Bowl or no bowl" rule enforced by both of the participating conferences (Big Ten and AAWU). Purdue had played in Pasadena theprevious year, beatingUSC by a point, 14–13.

The conference's athletic directors voted to award the Rose Bowl bid to Indiana over Minnesota, albeit not unanimously. Indiana was considered the logical choice because they were the only Big Ten school yet to appear in the game.^[17] Minnesota coach Murray Warmath argued in vain that the Gophers deserved the bid because their prior two Rose Bowl teams, after the1960 and1961 seasons, received at-large bids because there was no agreement between the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl at the time; thus, technically, the Gophers never had received a Rose Bowl bid pursuant to that arrangement. Ironically, if Purdue had beaten Indiana in the season finale, the Boilermakers would have had sole possession of the conference championship, but Minnesota presumably would have received the Rose Bowl bid as the second place team in lieu of the ineligible Boilers. Instead, Indiana scored a 19–14 upset over Purdue, giving Minnesota a share of the conference championship but costing them a trip to Pasadena.Quarterback Harry Gonso led the Hoosiers into their first ever bowl game.

• USC -O. J. Simpson 2-yard run (Rikki Aldridge kick)

• Indiana - Dave Kornowa 27-yard field goal

• USC - Simpson 8-yard run (Aldridge kick)

No scoring

• 1967–68 NCAA football bowl games
• Rose Bowl Game
• 20th century in Pasadena, California
• Indiana Hoosiers football bowl games
• USC Trojans football bowl games
• January 1968 sports events in the United States
• 1968 in sports in California
• O. J. Simpson

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