In the fall of 1946 the Big Ten and the conference now called
the Pac 10 agreed that their champions would meet each other
annually in the oldest and best Bowl in the land, the Rose Bowl,
the granddaddy of them all. In the first Rose Bowl under the
new agreement on January 1, 1947 the Illini crushed UCLA 45-14.

The 1952 Rose Bowl between the Illini and Stanford is notable
for being the first ever college football game on national TV.
Well that and the Illini coming back from a 7-6 halftime deficit
to trounce Stanford 40-7.

In the 1964 game the Illini middle linebacker led the defense in
allowing Washington only one TD in a 17-7 win for Illinois. That
middle linebacker was Dick Butkus.

The Illini's only Rose Bowl loss came in 1984 when UCLA stopped
the Jack Trudeau led Illini 45-9.

So now comes the 2008 Rose Bowl between USC and the Illini.
(Just between you and me, I'd bet on USC. ;-) But I'll be
rooting for the improbable upset !!

--
Ken Fortenberry