10 greatest college football national championship games

2. USC wins inaugural 1 vs. 2 Rose Bowl showdown 42-37 vs. Wisconsin

The second-best game of the select group of top-two showdowns for the national championship was the first time it happened in college football history. After more than 25 years of existence, the top two teams in the final regular-season AP Top 25 faced one another in a bowl game to sort out a national champion.

That game was the 1963 Rose Bowl, which featured No. 1-ranked Pac-8 champion USC against No. 2 Big Ten kings Wisconsin. The two sides arrived in Pasadena a combined 18-1, with the lone defeat a 14-7 disappointment for the Badgers at Ohio State in October. Even with the loss, the Badgers were still ahead of undefeated Ole Miss and Texas.

Pete Beathard found Ron Butcher for the opening score in the first quarter, but a Ralph Kurek plunge pulled the Badgers back level after one quarter. The Trojans turned things on in the second quarter, building a 21-7 halftime lead on rushing touchdowns by Ben Wilson and Ron Heller.

USC then came out and drew first blood in the third quarter, scoring to take a 21-point lead on a 57-yard Beathard touchdown pass to Hal Bedsole. The two linked up again later in the third quarter, and the Trojans took a 42-14 lead early in the third quarter when Beathard threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day to Fred Hill.

But Wisconsin had different ideas, falling just short of pulling off a comeback in Pasadena. A 23-point fourth quarter was fueled by Wisconsin quarterback Ron Vander Kelen, who set several passing records that stood for more than three decades. Wisconsin ultimately fell to the Trojans, but they brought a new phenomenon into the world in an instant classic of a game.