1961 Rose Bowl
The 1961 Rose Bowl was the 47th Rose Bowl game, played on January 2, 1961, in Pasadena, California. The #6 Washington Huskies defeated the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, 17–7. Washington quarterback Bob Schloredt returned from a mid-season injury was named the Player Of The Game for the second straight year. As New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, the major bowl games were played on Monday.
| 1961 Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 47th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bob Schloredt (QB Washington) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Minnesota by 7 points | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | UM Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Lee Eisan (AAWU; split crew: AAWU, Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | UM Marching Band, UW Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 97,314 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC (B/W) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mel Allen Chick Hearn | ||||||||||||||||||
This was the first season of the new agreement with the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) to send their champion. Its predecessor, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), had dissolved after the 1958 season. The Big Ten was no longer in a formal agreement with the Rose Bowl following the demise of the PCC: Big Ten champion Minnesota received and accepted an "at-large" invitation.
The Great Rose Bowl Hoax occurred during halftime. As seen by an estimated 30 million television viewers, students from nearby Caltech altered the plans for the Washington card stunts, which spelled "CALTECH" instead of "HUSKIES" and showed the Caltech Beaver mascot instead of the Washington Husky.