The 2004 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game held on January 1, 2004 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. It was the 90th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, defeated the Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, 28-14. USC quarterback Matt Leinart was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game.
The events leading up to the 2004 Rose Bowl were the subject of controversy. Although USC was ranked #1 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, the Trojans were not invited to the BCS National Championship Game, the 2004 Sugar Bowl. Even though the Oklahoma Sooners lost on December 5, 2003 in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game to the Kansas State Wildcats, by virtue of their dominance earlier in the season, they remained #1 in the final BCS rankings issued at the outset of the bowl season. Oklahoma faced the LSU Tigers, #2 in both polls and the BCS rankings, in the Sugar Bowl.
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