The favored Washington Huskies team had a record of four wins and no losses in its abbreviated season, without any Pacific Conference games. Their opponents were Whitman College, the Spokane Air Command, the March Field Flyers, and again against the Spokane Air Command.
The USC quarterback, Jim Hardy, threw three touchdown passes to lead the Trojans. This victory was the Trojan's seventh Rose Bowl victory and also gave them their Pacific Coast Conference Championship.[3] For the first time, the Rose Bowl was broadcast on the radio abroad to all American servicemen, with General Eisenhower in Western Europe allowing all troops who were not on the front lines to tune in and listen.[4]