The 1956 Rose Bowl game, played on January 2, 1956, was the 42nd Rose Bowl game. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the UCLA Bruins, 17–14. Michigan State halfback Walt Kowalczyk was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. The game was played on January 2, because New Year's Day was a Sunday. It featured two of the most racially integrated college football teams of the day with six African American players for the Bruins and seven for the Spartans. This stood in stark contrast to the 1956 Sugar Bowl, where there was controversy over whether Bobby Grier from Pitt should be allowed to play and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to integration. Only one month previous, Rosa Parks made her famous protest in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The 1956 Rose Bowl has the highest TV rating of all college bowl games, watched by 41.1% of all people in the US with TV sets.

The Ohio State Buckeyes were the undefeated Big Ten conference champions. However, Ohio State would not be invited to the Rose Bowl because of the no-repeat rule in the Big Ten conference. This left Michigan State to be accepted. Ohio State was ranked #4 with a 7–2 record, and Michigan State was ranked #2 with a 9–1 record. The teams did not play each other during the regular season. Michigan State opened with a 20–13 win at Indiana. Then they lost to in State rival Michigan 7–14. This was their only loss. They won 38–14 over Stanford. They defeated rival Notre Dame 21–7. The Spartans did not play Northwestern, Iowa, or Ohio State. Ohio State had lost at Duke, and also 0–6 to Stanford.

UCLA was the defending National Champion and had an undefeated season in 1954. The Bruins began the 1955 season ranked number one. In a showdown at #5 Maryland, the Bruins lost 0–7 to the Terrapins. A 38–0 win over Oregon State ultimately proved to be the game for the conference championship. The Bruins would win the rest of their regular season games, including a 21–13 win over Stanford. With the Pacific Coast conference championship already won, the Bruins won their third straight game in the UCLA-USC rivalry 17–7.

This was the second meeting between the two schools, the first being a 28–20 victory for the Spartans over the Bruins in the 1954 Rose Bowl. In a Sports Illustrated article preceding the 1956 Rose Bowl, UCLA coach Red Sanders was quoted as saying "Sure, winning isn't every thing, It's the only thing."

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