[1] Troy Aikman, the UCLA quarterback and LaSalle Harper, an Arkansas linebacker were named the Most Valuable Players of the game.
Eric Ball , the 1986 Rose Bowl MVP had a crucial fumble in the UCLA vs Washington State game, when the #1 ranked Bruins were upset at home by the Cougars 34–30.
USC used a strong ground game and "bend but don't break" defense, in front of the largest Rose Bowl Stadium regular season crowd in history, to beat the Bruins 31–22.
Jimmy Johnson, coach of the Miami Hurricanes, had played at the University of Arkansas with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Martin played twelve years for the New Orleans Saints, and Atwater won two Super Bowls of his own with the Denver Broncos and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
Because the #2 Miami Hurricanes already had lost to #1 ranked Notre Dame, the Irish would play #3 West Virginia for the de facto national championship in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl.
In an interview with SBNation Arkansas Fight in 2009, Ken Hatfield still never specifically stated what team rules were broken to leave Freddie Childress and Wayne Martin out of the Cotton Bowl.