The 1976 Rose Bowl was the 62nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The UCLA Bruins of the Pacific-8 Conference defeated the top-ranked and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference 23–10 in a rare bowl rematch of a regular season game. UCLA quarterback John Sciarra was named the Player of the Game. This was the first post season that teams from the Big Ten and Pac-8 could appear in other bowl games since the Cotton Bowl in January 1949. Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes made his final appearance in the Rose Bowl, as Michigan represented the Big Ten in the next three editions. Teams This was the second meeting between the teams that season; Ohio State handed UCLA its first loss of the season, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on After the game, Hayes prophetically told his Buckeyes that they would be facing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl; they were the only opponent to score more than fourteen points against Ohio State, and they did it twice. Ohio State Buckeyes Hayes brought an Ohio State team to Pasadena, featuring two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. It was a record fourth consecutive appearance for the 62-year-old Hayes, and his eighth and final appearance in the Rose Bowl. It was also a record fourth Rose Bowl start for Griffin; he was the only player to start in four until joined by Brian Cushing of USC in January 2009. Ohio State capped an undefeated regular season with a 21–14 win over rival Michigan in Ann Arbor for Hayes' last outright Big Ten championship, and also his last victory over former assistant The Wolverines held the Buckeyes scoreless in the second and third quarters. Tied at and having already tied two non-conference opponents, the Wolverines needed a win to advance to Pasadena. With less than three minutes remaining, Michigan's freshman quarterback Rick Leach was intercepted by sophomore safety Ray Griffin, who returned it thirty yards down to the 3-yard line, and fullback Pete Johnson ran it in for the winning touchdown. Michigan was the Big Ten runner-up for a fourth straight year; in the previous three, they stayed home during bowl season because of conference rules. This year, #5 Michigan (8–1–2) was invited to the Orange Bowl to face #3 Oklahoma, the Big Eight champion.