In return, the Rose Bowl was added to the yearly national championship game rotation.
In late September, Miami had been forced to postpone their game with UCLA due to Hurricane Georges.
Wisconsin ended up in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Ohio State.
The circumstances of this selection and the fact that UCLA had so recently fallen from the lofty #2 in the nation status led many to deride and seriously underestimate the Badgers; most notably, ESPN analyst Craig James with his infamous declaration that Wisconsin was "the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl".
The weather was sunny and 74 degrees and the crowd of 93,872 at the Rose Bowl was described by one reporter as a "sea of red […] with a few small breaks of Bruin blue.
On the opening drive of the second half, Wisconsin continued the scoring trend, going ahead 31–21 on Ron Dayne's fourth touchdown run of the game.
The eventual "clinching" play occurred on UCLA's next drive, at the start of the fourth quarter, when Cade McNown threw an interception to Jamar Fletcher, which was returned 47 yards for a Wisconsin touchdown to extend the Badgers' lead to 38–28.
Starting from the Wisconsin 33, the Bruins went deep on their first play, which resulted in Jamar Fletcher being called for pass interference on Danny Farmer in the endzone.
However, UCLA had to settle for a field goal to make the score 38–31 Wisconsin with 6:05 left in the game.
On their last possession, the Bruins allowed a "sack of McNown on fourth-and-3 at the Wisconsin 47-yard line with 59 seconds remaining.