Gophers will play New Mexico in the Rate Bowl

The Gophers will play New Mexico in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec The first meeting between the two programs will kickoff at p m CT at Chase Field and will air on ESPN Bowl projections late last week for the Big Ten-Big XII conference matchup was penciled out to be between the Gophers - and Iowa State - but the Cyclones opted out of the bowl Sunday morning due to lack of healthy players to safely practice and play Iowa State which is also going through a coaching change from Matt Campbell to Jimmy Rogers was fined by the Big XII for declining a bowl invitation With Kansas State also opting out the bowl picked a Mountain West Conference operation Under up-and-coming first-year head coach Jason Eck New Mexico won six straight games to finish - overall and - in conference play They lost the season opener to then th-ranked Michigan - on Aug but knocked off UCLA - on Sept Eck who just signed a five-year extension to stay in Albuquerque produced the activity s first win over a Big Ten school and ended two long losing streaks to Air Force years on the road and Colorado State straight games The Lobos lost to San Jose State and Boise State to barely missed out on the Mountain West championship contest which Boise State won - over UNLV on Friday The Gophers had a memorable experience in Phoenix in beating West Virginia in the then-named Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Chase Field More than Gopher fans attended the event at Arizona Diamondbacks home venue The Gophers reached six wins and bowl eligibility with a - overtime win over Michigan State on Nov and after losses to Oregon and Northwestern they improved their position with a - win over Wisconsin for Paul Bunyans Axe in the regular-season finale on Nov The Gophers are headed to their seventh bowl championship in nine seasons under head coach P J Fleck They failed to qualify in his first year and opted out of a bowl match during the pandemic-altered season in The Gophers eight-straight wins in bowl games is the longest streak in the nation The U hasn t lost since the Citrus Bowl Related Articles Gophers likely bowl destination Rate Bowl in Phoenix Gophers dismiss defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter Gophers football Five players plan to enter transfer portal Gophers football true freshman who might be instant impact on offense Gophers football Signing day tracker for recruiting class