What is criteria for Rose Bowl invitation?

Answer 1

Originally, the Tournament of Roses invited the top team from the east of the country to travel to play the top team from the west in an exhibition football game. That arrangement eventually led to contracts between the Tournament of Roses and the Big Ten and what is now the Pac-12 to send their respective champions to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl Game.

Since the introduction of the BCS, the Tournament of Roses bowl committee attempts to place the two conference champions in the game, but that is not always possible if one of the teams is playing in the BCS National Championship Game. In that case, the No. 2 team from the conference was invited.

With the introduction of the "College Football Playoff" at the tail end of the 2014 season, the Rose Bowl will rotate with five other bowl sites as a semifinal site, and in those years, may not host a team from the Big Ten and Pac-12. In years where the Rose Bowl Game is not a semifinal, the bowl will only feature a Big Ten champion versus a Pac-12 champion if both teams do not participate in the playoff.

It is important to note that "Rose Bowl" refers to the stadium and "Rose Bowl Game" refers to the football bowl game.