FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.
There are a lot of firsts and onlys on this list, but this one surprised even me. Only one Big Ten team has ever won back-to-back Rose Bowls, and it didn't happen way back in the 1950s. In fact, it happened less than ten years ago. When the Wisconsin Badgers won in 1999 and 2000, they became the first and so far only Big Ten team to do so.
Now, it's important to remember that prior to the early 1970s the Big Ten had a rule forbidding any team from going to the Rose Bowl in two consecutive seasons. Once that rule was lifted, Ohio State went to Pasadena four straight years (1973 through 1976) but only won once, in 1974. Not to be outdone, Michigan then went to, and lost, three straight Rose Bowls themselves. Throughout the 1980s no Big Ten team would make consecutive West Coast swings. Michigan split their 1993 and 1994 Rose Bowls, but it looked as if no Big Ten team would ever win the thing in back-to-back years
But they didn't count on ... one man.
