1987 Rose Bowl

[3] A 16–9 win for Arizona State over UCLA in Pasadena on October 4 later proved to be the deciding game in the race for the Pac-10 Conference title.

With three straight wins at home over former WAC nemesis Utah, Washington, and Cal, combined with a UCLA loss to Stanford, Arizona State clinched the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth on November 8.

[3] The Sun Devils dropped their final game of the regular season to in-state rival Arizona, 34-17, in the annual battle for the Territorial Cup.

A #1 versus #2 matchup the previous season between the two schools, which the Wolverines lost, had decided the race for the Big Ten title and the 1986 Rose Bowl.

A Michigan touchdown tied the game at 17–17 with just two minutes to go, but Golden Gopher quarterback Rickey Foggie scrambled to put Chip Lohmiller in position to kick the winning field goal.

The loss dropped the Wolverines to sixth as they prepared to face their archrival, seventh-ranked Ohio State, for a trip to the Rose Bowl.