Michigan fullback Mel Anthony was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game.
The Wolverines had finished seventh in the Big Ten Conference the previous year, and had placed no higher than a tie for fifth under coach Bump Elliott.
The tiebreaker in such an instance was to eliminate the team that had more recently gone to the Rose Bowl, and Southern California had gone two years prior.
[4][5] This would lead to another controversy just two years later in which an 8–2 USC team that had lost to UCLA would get voted in ahead of the 9–1 Bruins.
While the conversion pass from Bob Timberlake to Ben Farabee was broken up, the Wolverines led 12–7 at the half.
However, it was the last bowl game Elliott would coach; he resigned following the 1968 season after a 50–14 loss to archrival Ohio State.