Vexed was many an Eastern football fan last week by a decision made in California. Instead of inviting the teams of Pittsburgh or Fordham—both undefeated this year and tied only by each other, both rated tops by most Eastern experts—the University of California invited a team rated merely next to tops to play in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
No mean choice did California make, however. It chose a great Alabama team coached by Frank Thomas who was Knute Rockne’s quarterback at Notre Dame in 1921-22. This choice gives California a chance to defeat a university which in four previous appearances in the Rose Bowl has never been defeated. An earnest of a thrilling game on New Year’s Day is Alabama’s 1937 record. Undefeated and untied this season, Alabama scored 225 points to 20 for its nine opponents, won the last three (from Tulane, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt) by scoring in the last five minutes of the last quarter.
Other New Year’s Day Bowl games scheduled:
Dallas’ Cotton Bowl: Rice v. Colorado University.
New Orleans’ Sugar Bowl: Louisiana State v. Santa Clara.
Miami’s Orange Bowl: Alabama Poly (Auburn) v. Michigan State.
El Paso’s Sun Bowl: Texas Tech v. West Virginia.
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