Big Ten Conference champion Ohio State declined the invitation to play in the Rose Bowl. Days after the conclusion of the regular season, the university's faculty council voted 28–25 against participation in the Rose Bowl. They were under no contractual obligation to accept the invitation following the demise of the Pacific Coast Conference after the 1958 season. Minnesota, the runner-up in the Big Ten, was then offered the "at-large" invitation, and accepted.

Minnesota quarterback Sandy Stephens was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. It was broadcast on the NBC television network and was the first national color television broadcast of a college football game.

The Gophers had gone to the Rose Bowl the previous year as the #1 team in the nation and lost to the Washington Huskies. In 1961, the Gophers actually finished in second place in Big Ten Conference play. Minnesota had a loss to Missouri, and a Big Ten loss to Wisconsin in their rivalry game. Ohio State was the Big Ten champion, but because of a faculty council decision to emphasize academics over athletics, the Buckeyes turned down the Rose Bowl berth. Ironically, Minnesota would not have received the Rose Bowl invitation if they had, in fact, been the 1961 Big Ten champion and the conference had a formal agreement with the Rose Bowl for the 1961 and 1962 games, since the Big Ten had a "no-repeat" rule in effect until 1972. The Gophers were led by Sandy Stephens, the first African American All-American quarterback. However, he was not the first African-American starting quarterback in a Rose Bowl (this distinction goes to Charles Fremont West, forty years earlier in 1922).

...
Wikipedia