The first game, the 1902 Tournament East-West football game, was so lopsided that for the next 13 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football.

Brown outscored its opponents 167–32 that year, beating Rhode Island 38–0, Williams 33–0, Vermont 46–0, Yale 3-0 and Carlisle 39–3.

[1] Coach William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz and his Washington State squad served as extras in the football film Tom Brown of Harvard each morning and then practiced for the bowl game in the afternoon.

[4] Carl Dietz, the Washington State fullback, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.

The official 2007 NCAA Division I football records book lists the attendance at 7,000.

The quarterback of the Washington State University team, Thomas Arthur Durham, later had a successful Naval career.