Since the inaugural Rose Bowl Game in 1902, this game has been the launching pad for numerous college football legacies. Having showcased 18 Heisman Trophy Winners, produced 28 national champions, featured 190 consensus All-Americans, and finally honoring 95 college football legends with inductions into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, the nickname “The Granddaddy of Them All” is more than appropriate for this annual spectacle.

Since 1947, the Rose Bowl game has been played under the Tournament of Roses’ exclusive agreement with the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, and has been sold out every year. With the 1998 Rose Bowl game being the 52nd anniversary of that agreement, it is the longest-running tradition of its type in college conference and bowl history. Additionally, as part of the Bowl Championship Series, the Rose Bowl has also hosted the BCS National Championship Game in 2002 and 2006, and scheduled to do so again in 2010.

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a five-game series of college football bowl games, created with the intention of matching the #1 and #2 ranked teams in a game to determine the National Championship, while providing four other exciting games amongst eight of the other most highly ranked teams in college football that season. The five BCS bowl games are the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game which is alternated among the different BCS bowl sites each year.

Other than in the years when the Rose Bowl played host to the BCS National Championship Game, the game has always been scheduled for the afternoon. That was until 2007, when a separate BCS National Championship Game was established and held after January 1. As a result of this new agreement, in 2010, the Tournament of Roses will not only host the Citi BCS National Championship Game on January 7, but also the 96th Rose Bowl Game on January 1, 2010, at its traditional time.

Other than “The Granddaddy of Them All”, is there really any other college football bowl game or celebration with the tradition and pageantry of the Rose Bowl game? If you are shaking your head no, then you need to get your New Year’s Day BCS tickets for the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.