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There is nothing better in college football than the sunset at the Rose Bowl Game, perfectly timed to take place at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The sun peaks over the mountains in the distance, and it creates an unreal sunset that you truly have to see in person to fully appreciate just how awesome it is.
Sadly, traditions don’t mean much in college football any more, and even the iconic Pasadena sunset is being affected by the changes in the sport. Due to the College Football Playoff schedule, the game time of the Rose Bowl is being moved up an hour, which means that the sunset may not even happen during the game at all!
Traditionally, the game kicks off at 2PM local time in Pasadena, California, with the sun starting to dip behind the San Gabriel Mountains at around 4:55PM. And, it creates a stunning scene.
The first sunset of the year. If you hate the Rose Bowl you got a big dump in your pants pic.twitter.com/T1026cX5OW
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) January 2, 2025
Sunsets at the Rose Bowl are always incredible. pic.twitter.com/CXgMjpiOaN
— FB_Helmet_Guy (@FB_Helmet_Guy) January 1, 2024
The sun setting over the Rose Bowl is undefeated (📷 by @HistoryInn) pic.twitter.com/OV7lM9FOcQ
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 2, 2018
But, they’re moving the game time to accommodate a College Football Playoff quarterfinals tripleheader that day. Here’s The Athletic with more.
The iconic Rose Bowl sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains on New Year’s Day will likely come during the game’s final minutes rather than early in the fourth quarter.
As part of the College Football Playoff’s adjustment of kickoff times for its Jan. 1 quarterfinal tripleheader, the 2026 Rose Bowl will kick off an hour earlier at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT), which will be the earliest kickoff time in the bowl game’s California history.
The Orange Bowl, which typically kicks off in primetime but has rotated into the quarterfinal lineup this year, will open the day at noon ET, followed by the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m., moved up from its traditional kick time of 8:45 p.m. ET. The Cotton Bowl, the fourth CFP quarterfinal, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.
The time change, which is expected to continue beyond 2026, has been discussed among CFP, Rose Bowl and ESPN officials for several years. The Rose Bowl’s late run time has pushed back the Sugar Bowl to even later kickoff times and finishes in recent years, which have been hard on fans and impacted the Sugar Bowl’s television ratings.
Yeah, this stinks. Oh no, the Sugar Bowl runs late. There’s only one Granddady of Them All, and that’s the Rose Bowl game. The Rose Bowl shouldn’t be accommodating other games. They should be accommodating the Rose Bowl.