Minnesota set to face New Mexico in Rate Bowl on December 26
The Minnesota Golden Gophers have officially learned their postseason destination.
On Sunday, Minnesota accepted a bowl bid to the Rate Bowl on December 26, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. The Golden Gophers will face the New Mexico Lobos of the Mountain West Conference at 3:30 p.m. CT at Chase Field. The game will be televised on ESPN.
It will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs.
Minnesota will be playing in the Phoenix-based bowl game for the fifth time, after also appearing in it in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2021. The bowl game was previously known as the Copper Bowl, Insight.com Bowl, Insight Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Cactus Bowl, Cheez-It Bowl, and Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Their most recent appearance in Phoenix came after the 2021 season, an 18–6 win over West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. They also played there in 2006 (a 44–41 loss to Texas Tech), 2008 (a 42–21 loss to Kansas), and 2009 (a 14–13 loss to Iowa State).
New Mexico is currently in the midst of its best season since 2016 as first-year head coach Jason Eck has led the program to a 9-3 record. It is their first non-New Mexico Bowl appearance since playing in the 2004 Emerald Bowl. They appeared in the New Mexico bowl in 2006, 2007, 2015, and 2016.
The Lobos did play in the 1997 Insight Bowl, a 20-14 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.
The Gophers are notably undefeated under head coach P.J. Fleck in bowl games, with a 6-0 record. The program as a whole has won eight straight bowl games dating back to the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl, the longest active streak in the nation and the fourth longest in college football history.
