30 bucket list items college football fans need to experience

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: Linebacker Ben Boulware #10 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 to win the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 02: A general view of the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual between the USC Trojans and the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

8. The Grand Daddy of Them All: The Rose Bowl Game

Some fans complain that there are too many bowl games (it’s a topic for another day, but simply, those fans are wrong). Well, there was a time when there was only one: The Rose Bowl.

First held in 1902 and originally known as the Tournament East-West football game, the Rose Bowl began the tradition of hosting college football bowl games on New Year’s Day. A crowd of 8,000 gathered in Pasadena to see a juggernaut Michigan squad beat Stanford 49-0, which caused the organizers of the event to shy away from holding a football game for the next 14 years.

Renamed the Rose Bowl, but with the East vs. West theme still in tact, current Ivy League member Brown traveled west to take on Washington State on Jan. 1, 1916. The first meeting between current Pac-12 and Big Ten opponents, which evolved into the traditional pairing, came after the 1920 season when Cal beat Ohio State 28-0.

In 1935, the numbers of bowl games began to grow. The Sun Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl all debuted that year, followed by the Cotton Bowl in 1937. More trickled in through the decades to our current total of 39 bowl games, six of which are tied to the College Football Playoff, including the national title game and two semifinals.

Because of the vast number of bowls today, and the low expectations for qualification, many bowls feature large numbers of empty seats. Therefore, they often lack the big-game atmosphere available at the older, often more important, bowl games. The Rose Bowl Game, which will serve as a national semifinal in 2017, is always packed, and always carried a great matchup of highly ranked teams. As a result, it’s a no-brainer for our bucket list.

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