 Pacific Coast champion Oregon State was responsible for selecting and inviting the opposing team.Top-ranked Minnesota was the first choice, but the Western Conference (today's Big Ten Conference) did not permit their teams to play in bowl games until the 1946 agreement between the Big Nine and PCC.Duke was a logical second choice, but Coach Wallace Wade had rubbed a lot of Californians the wrong way due to his antics following his 7–3 loss in the 1939 Rose Bowl.