The Rose Bowl is part of the annual Tournament of Roses event that includes the Tournament of Roses Parade. This year, the game will be played by the Trojans and the Wolverines which are the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan representatives.

The former “Tournament East-West football game" was first played on January 1st, 1902. At the beginning the games were played in Pasadena’s Tournament Park but for January 1st, 1923 the Rose Bowl Stadium was built.

Michigan’s team arrived ten days in advance to Southern California to dispute the Rose Bowl keeping its tradition of arriving early to it. However, this year mechanical issues kept the team's plane on the ground in Michigan for more than three hours before they were able to take off.

This will be Michigan's 20th appearance in the Rose Bowl and its third one in four seasons. The Michigan Wolverines have an 8-11 record in their previous appearances. They lost to Texas 38-37 in the 2005 game.

A win would give Michigan their second 12-win season in school history. Michigan went 12-0, including a Rose Bowl victory over Washington State, by winning the 1997 national championship. The Michigan Wolverines have played the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl seven times before, losing five of them including a 28-14 USC victory in 2004.