The Washington Huskies face the Michigan Wolverines on Monday night for the national championship of college football. Washington and Michigan began a series of meetings in the Rose Bowl in 1978, creating a shared history which flows into Monday’s title bout.
The beginning of that postseason history would not have been possible without USC’s help.
In 1977, USC was in a transition year between its 1976 team, which finished No. 2 in the country, and its 1978 team, which won the national title. USC met UCLA unable to win the Pac-8 title and go to the Rose Bowl. It could, however, knock UCLA out of the Rose Bowl and put Washington in.
We wrote about this 1977 USC-UCLA game:
“The Trojans, at 6-4, limped into their regular-season finale against the Bruins, with Terry Donahue trying to make his first Rose Bowl in Westwood. UCLA defeated Washington head to head, so if the Bruins could take down USC, they would have earned a spot in the 1978 Rose Bowl against Michigan. Donahue and UCLA might have gained an even firmer foothold in Los Angeles, changing the trajectory of this series in the late 1970s.
“It was not to be. Even with four losses, USC was able to ruin the Bruins’ season.”
Don James is one of the all-time greatest coaches in college football history, not just Washington history. Yet, a lot of great coaches needed that first break, that first foot in the door, to catapult themselves to prominence. USC helped Don James make his first Rose Bowl at Washington, the moment the Huskies used to rise to a higher level. If Don James had not revived Washington in the late 1970s, we might not be talking about a Washington-Michigan title game.
It is fascinating how a larger reality comes together.
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