The 1951 Rose Bowl was the 37th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Monday, January 1. The ninth-ranked Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the California Golden Bears, champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, 14–6.

Michigan fullback Don Dufek scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was named the Player of the Game. With a record of 9–0–1, the Golden Bears were ranked fourth in the nation.

It was the Big Ten's fifth consecutive win in the Rose Bowl, and California's third straight loss.

Teams

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan upset rival Ohio State 9–3 in the notorious Snow Bowl game, played in 21 inches (53 cm) of snow in Columbus.

California Golden Bears

This was California's third consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl and were slightly favored. Pete Schabarum broke a 77-yard run on the second play of the game, but a backfield-in-motion penalty nullified the score to stop the Cal momentum.

Scoring

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

Game notes

Aftermath

After this third consecutive loss by California, the Pacific Coast Conference enacted a "no-repeat" rule, similar to the Big Ten's. Future teams affected were UCLA in 1955 and Oregon State in 1958, and both resulted in wins for the Big Ten. With the PCC's dissolution in the spring of 1959, the succeeding AAWU (Big Five) abolished that rule, and Washington won the next two Rose Bowls in 1960 and 1961.

Although Minnesota appeared in consecutive Rose Bowls in 1961 and 1962, (both as "at-large" invitations, the latter after champion Ohio State declined), the Big Ten kept its rule until the early 1970s; the last team affected was Michigan State in 1967, when runner-up Purdue edged unranked USC by a point. The first Big Ten team to make a repeat appearance in the 1970s was Ohio State in 1974, the conference's only win in Pasadena that decade.