2018 Rose Bowl
The 2018 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Georgia Bulldogs, played on January 1, 2018 at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. The 104th Rose Bowl Game was a semifinal for the College Football Playoff (CFP), matching two of the top four teams selected by the system's selection committee-Georgia of the SEC and Oklahoma of the Big 12. The Georgia Bulldogs won the game 54–48, with a 27-yard run by Sony Michel, shortly after Lorenzo Carter blocked Oklahoma Sooners' field goal attempt in the second overtime. The game lasted four hours and five minutes. Georgia advanced to face the winner of the Sugar Bowl (Alabama) in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game, to be played on January 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. With 26.8 million viewers on ESPN, the game ranked as the fifth most-viewed cable program of all time.
| 2018 Rose Bowl presented by Northwestern Mutual | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFP Semifinal 104th Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 1, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Sony Michel, RB (Georgia) Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Georgia by 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | United States Army Chorus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jeff Heaser (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Georgia Redcoat Marching Band The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 92,844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN and ESPN Radio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | ESPN: Chris Fowler (play-by-play) Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) Maria Taylor and Tom Rinaldi (sideline) ESPN Radio: Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 14.8 (26.8 million viewers avg.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN Deportes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Kenneth Garay, Sebastian Martinez-Christensen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The game was one of the 2017–18 bowl games that concluded the 2017 FBS football season. It was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, with the kickoff at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local time). The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association organized the game. Sponsored by the Northwestern Mutual financial services organization, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.