Unbeaten Indiana and underdog Alabama are ready to roll in a rain-soaked Rose Bowl
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The rain-soaked Rose Bowl is ready to host a surprising No. 1 team and a blue-blood underdog in the 112th edition of The Granddaddy of Them All.
Top-seeded Indiana (13-0) begins its College Football Playoff quest for the first national title in school history when the Hoosiers play in the Rose Bowl on Thursday for the first time since 1968.
Their opponent is Alabama (11-3, CFP No. 9 seed), which is back in the Rose Bowl for the second time in three years after an impressive road victory over Oklahoma to open the Crimson Tide’s first CFP appearance under coach Kalen DeBoer.
Indiana has made a monumental turnaround during the two seasons since coach Curt Cignetti took over what was the losingest program in college football at the time. After winning 11 games and reaching the CFP last season, the Hoosiers steamrolled through their schedule this fall before beating defending national champion Ohio State for the Big Ten Conference championship and ascending to the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the first time.
Three hours before kickoff, the Rose Bowl canceled all of the traditional on-field activities before the coin flip in a bid to preserve the turf. Both bands will perform their pregame shows in the stands, and the Rose Parade dignitaries — including Grand Marshal Magic Johnson — will watch from the sidelines.
A win in Pasadena would be another landmark achievement for Cignetti and quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the first Heisman Trophy winner in school history.
Alabama has won more landmark games than any other school in the CFP era, claiming three national titles and reaching three other championship games during Nick Saban’s remarkable tenure. Saban actually coached his final game at Alabama in Pasadena exactly two years ago, losing an overtime heartbreaker to Michigan in the CFP semifinals.
The Hoosiers are favored, but the Crimson Tide have their usual bumper crop of talent as they attempt to pull off an upset. Alabama’s up-and-down season began with a loss to Florida State and included a blowout defeat by Georgia in the SEC title game, but quarterback Ty Simpson and a gifted defense roared from behind to take down the Sooners in Norman before the holidays.
The teams are meeting during a rare stretch of sustained rain in Southern California, which was drenched throughout the Christmas break. Rain began to fall in earnest again in Pasadena on Wednesday, and it continued steadily into 2026 on Thursday morning, when parking lots quickly became waterlogged and stadium concourses required special drainage measures.
But the famed Rose Bowl turf was covered during the storm, and it looked as pristine as ever when it was uncovered Thursday morning.
There’s another unusual factor in this edition of the Rose Bowl: It’s starting at 1 p.m., an hour earlier than the customary 2 p.m. Pacific kickoff. That means the storied sunset against the San Gabriel Mountains won’t happen early in the fourth quarter as usual — but thanks to the steady rain and low cloud cover in Arroyo Seco, those famed mountains weren’t even visible Thursday morning anyway.
The winner of the Rose Bowl moves on to the CFP semifinal at the Peach Bowl next weekend in Atlanta.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/college-football