The matchup for the College Football Playoff national championship game is set, as Michigan and Washington will meet Monday in Houston to decide this season’s title winner. The two sides represent the only two undefeated teams remaining in the country, making them fitting title game representatives.
Although fans are excited for the matchup, a number of them don’t believe Texas’s biggest city is the right place to decide the champion. Instead, they’re suggesting the national championship be moved to a different location: the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
For many years, the Rose Bowl exclusively matched the Big Ten champion against the Pac-12 champion, which is the exact matchup the country is getting with Wolverines-Huskies.
With the Pac-12’s impending doom, many fans believe one last game in Pasadena for the best Pac-12 team against the best Big Ten team would be the perfect way to go out.
And considering the epic sunsets in the Arroyo Seco this time of year, it’s a logical wish.
The perfect closing chapter to the end of the PAC 12 would have been for Michigan and Washington to play for the national title in the Rose Bowl. #Tradition
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) January 2, 2024
Michigan-Washington is the title game matchup I wanted, because of the extreme contrast of styles. It’s a fun game to ponder & anticipate for a week.
— Jerry Brewer (@JerryBrewer) January 2, 2024
But, like, with this being one last traditional Big Ten-Pac-12 showdown, can we move it from Houston to the Rose Bowl? Please.
Michigan and Washington should be playing for the championship in the Rose Bowl instead of some ugly dome
— Chris Dokish (@ChrisDokish) January 2, 2024
Can we just move Washington vs. Michigan to the Rose Bowl? Let’s end the conference with an old school bowl matchup at the Granddaddy.
— Rob Lantz (@Free_Lantz) January 2, 2024
if we’re gonna do washington-michigan we need to do it at the rose bowl
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) January 2, 2024
So ... can we just have Michigan and Washington play at the Rose Bowl as it should have been?
— Drew Hallett (@DrewCHallett) January 2, 2024
Petition to have Michigan just hang out here in L.A. and fly Washington in to play this Big Ten/Pac-12 national title game at the Rose Bowl.
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) January 2, 2024
A Michigan-Washington title game a) should be played in the Rose Bowl b) makes me wish we could have a world in which the title game could always be played at the geographically logical location on a week’s notice.
— Andy Hutchins (@AndyHutchins) January 2, 2024
Impossible, I know. But how cool would it be?
Petition to move the Michigan-Washington National Championship to the Rose Bowl where it belongs.
— Aditya Sood (@adityasood) January 2, 2024
If it’s a Washington/Michigan National Championship Game then we gotta move it to the Rose Bowl
— Ryan Rosenblatt (@RyanRosenblatt) January 2, 2024
Washington and Michigan have met at the Rose Bowl four times, including a 1991 matchup that resulted in a Huskies national title.
Unfortunately for traditionalists, this year’s title game will be contested at NRG Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN.
