This year’s University of New Mexico football team recorded quite a few “first time in a long time” achievements. On Sunday, UNM continued the pattern by earning its first berth in an out-of-state bowl game since 2004.
The Lobos (9-3, 6-2 in Mountain West Conference play) will face the University of Minnesota (7-5, 5-4 in the Big Ten Conference) in the Rate Bowl on Dec. 26. Hosted at Chase Field in Phoenix, the game will kick off at 2:30 p.m.
UNM’s winning record ensured the team a bowl invitation of some sort. But many observers had the Lobos once again playing on their own field in the New Mexico Bowl, which has been played annually at University Stadium since 2006. The Lobos have been participants in the New Mexico Bowl four times, most recently in 2016. But teams weren’t lining up to play UNM.
“People didn’t want to come play us in our home stadium,” Lobos Head Coach Jason Eck told the Albuquerque Journal.
Meanwhile, the Rate Bowl, formerly known as the Copper Bowl, was looking for a qualified participant. The game typically features teams from the Big Ten and Big XII conferences. The Big Ten’s Minnesota accepted an invitation. But the preferred Big XII representatives, Iowa State and Kansas State, both declined invitations due to end-of-season coaching changes. The Lobos, happy to play a bowl game against a team from a Power Five conference, agreed to fill the void.
“Thank you to those players at Iowa State,” Eck said. “I hope they have a great Christmas at home — (thanks) for opting out and giving us an opportunity to get in this game.”
UNM and Minnesota have never met on the football field. Minnesota will be making its fifth consecutive bowl-game appearance. The Gophers have enjoyed plenty of postseason success in recent years. Since 2015, Minnesota owns an 8-0 record in bowl games.
New Mexico’s last bowl game appearance was in 2016, a 23-20 victory over UT-San Antonio in the New Mexico Bowl. UNM’s last out-of-state bowl game appearance was a 34-19 loss to Navy in the Emerald Bowl in 2004.
