“Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then.”
That line is from the University of Alabama’s famous fight song, “Yea, Alabama!” For a number of decades, the song’s historical Rose Bowl reference had little meaning for Bama students and younger fans.
That’s because Alabama could not play in the Rose Bowl. Two conferences nowhere near the Southeast had contracts to send their conference champs to the Rose Bowl on January 1.
For years, it was a contest between the Pac-10 champion and the Big Ten champion.
No Alabama. No SEC.
That has changed.
On January 1, 1926, Alabama had been invited to the Rose Bowl for the first time. Until that date, college football was considered to be a West Coast and Northeast thing.
Southern teams weren’t taken seriously. Alabama had a great team. In the 1925 season, they were 10-0, winning the Southern Conference championship in their first-ever perfect season. They were led by third-year Coach Wallace Wade.
The 1926 Rose Bowl showcased the best of the South vs. the best of the West, with Alabama vs. Washington. It was anticipated to be a close game and was, with Bama winning 20-19.
That game put Alabama on the national football radar. They have mostly stayed on that radar screen ever since and gradually developed into the most-watched team in the country.
The very next year, it was Alabama back to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row—and an even closer game. The defensive struggle ended with Alabama 7, Stanford 7. In those days, there were no overtimes, so a tie was a tie.
Bama suffered its first loss in the Rose Bowl in 1937, losing to California 13-0.
Then it was back in the win column in 1946, with Alabama 34, USC 14.
That was the last Alabama trip to the Rose Bowl for 74 years, as the conference tie-ins prevented the Tide from going.
By 2020, the conference tie-ins to the Rose Bowl were gone with the wind. Now, the Rose Bowl would, in many years, feature a preliminary round in the College Football Playoff. Bama was back in that playoff game and returned to its winning way of nearly three-quarters of a century ago, beating Notre Dame 31-14. That Rose Bowl had been moved from Pasadena to Arlington, Texas, because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In 2024, Alabama went to the Rose Bowl in the College Football Playoff. They lost 27-20 to eventual national champion Michigan in overtime. It was a vital loss, as it turned out to be legendary Coach Nick Saban’s final game at Alabama. We didn’t know that until well after the team returned to Tuscaloosa.
Alabama’s all-time Rose Bowl record is five wins, two losses, and one tie.
Now, Alabama is going back to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2026. It just happens to be on the 100th anniversary of Alabama’s very first trip to the “granddaddy of them all” in 1926.
It’s another South vs. North Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day 2026, with Alabama challenging the No. 1 seed, undefeated Indiana. It will also test whether Alabama’s defense can contain Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza.
It’s an interesting thing. Since Bama made a comeback for the ages and won its game against Oklahoma, I have talked to five or six Alabama fans. None of them can remember the name of the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner from Indiana who Alabama now faces. Something tells me we will hear the name a lot in the buildup to Rose Bowl 2026 and during the play-by-play of the New Year’s Day game.
The announcers and commentators will inevitably compare Mr. Heisman to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Even Alabama fans will tell you that Simpson, his line, and his receivers have been inconsistent this season.
If there was ever a time for Ty Simpson to play his best game (and for his line to protect him, and for his receivers not to drop the ball), this is that time — playing the top-ranked team, facing the Heisman quarterback, in the Rose Bowl, on New Year’s Day, with perhaps the largest viewing audience.
For Bama’s pluck and grit have writ her name in crimson flame.
Jim Zig Zeigler is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News. His beat includes the positive and colorful about Alabama – her people, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former State Auditor and Public Service Commissioner. You can reach him at [email protected]
