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In 1915 the city of Pasadena, Calif., decided to stage a football game as part of its Rose Festival on Jan. 1, 1916. Washington State was the outstanding Pacific Coast Conference team in 1915 and was given the privilege of inviting an Eastern team to meet it in the Pasadena Bowl. Washington State defeated Brown, 14 to 0, and that was the beginning of the bowl games ofpost-season football, although in 1902 there had been a bowl game-Michigan vs. Stanford, which Michigan won, 49 to 0.

In 1917, Oregon State played Pennsylvania in the Pasadena Rose Bowl. The 1918 and 1919 bowl games were between service elevens. In 1920, Harvard defeated Oregon, 7 to 6, and there was a game at Pasadena every New Year from then until Jan. 1, 1942, when war conditions caused transfer of the contest to the Duke Stadium in Durham, N.C. Play was resumed in the Rose Bowl in 1943.

In 1946 it was decreed that the Rose Bowl games, for a 5-year period beginning in 1947, were to be between the winner of the Pacific Coast Conference title and the Western Conference champion. The pact has been renewed several times. The success of the early Rose Bowl games brought about the origination of other post-season contests, usually played Jan. 1 of the year directly following the end of the football season. Among the earliest of such games was the East-West series, which started in San Francisco in 1925. Stars from Eastern college teams meet those of the West, with the net proceeds going to the Charity Committee of the Masonic Shrine.