Ohio State head coach Ryan Day looks on during practice in Carson, Calif., Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, ahead of Wednesday's Rose Bowl College Football Playoff against Oregon. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong) arrived in Southern California only three days before their showdown Wednesday in the 111th edition of the Rose Bowl Game — and both teams firmly declare they’re on a business trip, since this beloved postseason event is now The Ducks (13-0, CFP No. 1 seed) and the Buckeyes (11-2, CFP No.
8 seed) had no time to make the Rose Bowl teams’ traditional trip to Disneyland, which means there are no photos of stern-faced football coaches shaking hands with Mickey Mouse. There’s also no Beef Bowl, the annual trip to a famed Beverly Hills restaurant where thousands of pounds of prime rib have been shoveled into the bottomless stomachs of hungry linemen since 1956. The pregame pageantry may be curtailed, but a few things about the oldest bowl game simply can’t change: New Year’s Day still dawns with the venerable Rose Parade, followed by football played through a famous sunset. “When you’re at the Rose Bowl, you’re on sensory overload,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Tuesday. “The grass is greener. The sky is bluer. The sun is more yellow. It’s just a beautiful setting. But once the foot hits the ball, it’s time to go play. Anybody who knows playoff football, the intensity just gets ratcheted up. The electricity in that stadium will be special.” In a fortunate coincidence for Pasadena traditionalists, the game that matched the champions of the Big Ten and the Pac-12 for decades lucked into an optimal geographic matchup once again., Oregon and Ohio State hope to start 2025 by creating a classic in the CFP’s most anticipated quarterfinal matchu