
Minnesota has the longest active bowl game winning streak in the nation heading into its matchup with Virginia Tech in the Duke's Mayo Bowl on Friday, Jan. 3 in Charlotte. Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m., at Bank of America Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPN.
The Gophers have won seven straight bowl games dating back to Dec. 28, 2015. It’s the longest in Big Ten history and is tied for the seventh longest in college football history.
Florida State holds the record with 11 consecutive wins from 1985-1995.
Consecutive bowl wins
Here are the top dozen bowl game win streaks in college football history. Listed are consecutive wins, school and years.
11 Florida State 1985-1995
9 Southern California 1922-1944
9 Utah 1999-2009
8 Alabama 2015-2022
8 Boston College 2000-2007
8 UCLA 1982-1991
7 Georgia Tech 1947-1956
7 Marshall 2009-2018
7 Minnesota 2015-2023
7 Syracuse 1988-1996
7 UCLA 1982-1988
7 Utah 2003-2009

Starting the streak
The Gophers started their bowl winning streak under a pair of unusual circumstances.
First, Tracy Claeys was had been Minnesota's head coach for only about six weeks. He was named head coach on Nov. 11 as he succeeded his good friend Jerry Kill, who resigned his position on Oct. 28 due to health reasons.
Also, the Gophers only had a 5-7 record, short of the six wins usually required to be bowl eligible.
However, not enough teams won six games to fill all the available positions available on the bowl schedule. That made 5-7 teams eligible for a spot and Minnesota was picked for the Quick Lane Bowl because of all NCAA teams that won five games that season, the Gophers have the best Academic Progress Rate (APR).
Minnesota defeated Central Michigan 21-14 in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.
Gopher quarterback Mitch Leidner was the game’s Most Valuable Player. He was 24-for-30 passing for 223 yards and two touchdowns and also ran the ball nine times for 34 yards and another TD.

Top 10 lists
I thought it would be interesting to write a little about some of the top players to wear the maroon and gold at Minnesota and the Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange of Virginia Tech.
To do so I compiled results of several different stories I found on the subject from each school.
After doing so I concluded that these are the number one players of all time for each school are:
Minnesota: Bruce Smith
Virginia Tech: Bruce Smith
While the name is the same, they’re two different players.
Minnesota’s Bruce Smith was a running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1941.
Virginia Tech’s Bruce Smith was a defensive end who won the Outland Trophy in 1984.
Here are the top 10 from each school. Being from Minnesota and of a certain age I’m puzzled that Paul Giel and Carl Eller didn’t make the list for the Gophers but here we go:
Minnesota
Bruce Smith, RB
Bronko Nagurski, FB-DT
Darrell Thompson, RB
Sandy Stephens, QB
Eric Decker, WR
Adam Weber, QB
Bobby Bell, DL
Tyrone Carter, S
Ben Hamilton, C
Lawrence Maroney, RB
Virginia Tech
Bruce Smith, DE
Carroll Dale, WR
George Preas, OT-DT
Corey Moore, DE
Frank Loria, B
Michael Vick, QB
Cornell Brown, DE
Kevin Jones, RB
Antonio Freeman, WR
Gene Bunn, QB

Bowl results
The bowl game in Charlotte was originally named the Queen City Bowl although there was never a game played under that name.
It has undergone several name changes due to sponsorship rights.
Continental Tire Bowl
12-28-2002: Virginia 48, West Virginia 22
12-27-2003: Virginia 23, Pittsburgh 16
12-30-2004: Boston College 37, North Carolina 24
Meineke Car Care Bowl
12-31-2005: North Carolina State 14, South Florida 0
12-30-2006: Boston College 25, Navy 24
12-29-2007: Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10
12-27-2008: West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30
12-26-2009: Pittsburgh 19, North Carolina 17
12-31-2010: South Florida 31, Clemson 26
Belk Bowl
12-27-2011: North Carolina State 31, Louisville 24
12-27-2012: Cincinnati 48, Duke 34
12-28-2013: North Carolina 39, Cincinnati 17
12-30-2014: Georgia 37, Louisville 14
12-30-2015: Mississippi State 51, North Carolina State 28
12-29-2016: Virginia Tech 35, Arkansas 24
12-29-2017: Wake Forest 55, Texas A&M 52
12-29-2018: Virginia 28, South Carolina 0
12-31-2019: Kentucky 37, Virginia Tech 30
Duke’s Mayo Bowl scores
12-30-2020: Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28
12-30-2021: South Carolina 38, North Carolina 21
12-30-2022: Maryland 16, North Carolina State 12
12-27-2023: West Virginia 30, North Carolina 10

Mayo dump
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck and Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry have both agreed that if their respective team win on Jan. 3, he will participate in a beloved bowl game tradition.
Okay, it’s only been around since 2021 and actually it’s kinda gross but the winning coach will get 4.5 gallons of mayo dumped on them to celebrate.
Duke's donates $10,000 to the winning coach's charity of choice.
Two fans chosen from a combine are responsible for dumping the mayo. They wear shirts that say "I'm just here for the Mayo".
Bowl results
Minnesota will be playing in its 25th bowl game all-time and Virginia Tech in its 35th.
Minnesota (12-12)
01-02-1961, Rose Bowl: Washington 17, Minnesota 7
01-01-1962, Rose Bowl: Minnesota 21, UCLA 3
12-22-1977, Hall of Fame Bowl: Maryland 17, Minnesota 7
12-21-1985, Independence Bowl: Minnesota 20, Clemson 13
12-29-1986, Liberty Bowl: Tennessee 21, Minnesota 14
12-31-1999, Sun Bowl: Oregon 24, Minnesota 20
12-28-2000, MicroPC.com Bowl: North Carolina State 38, Minnesota 30
12-30-2002, Music City Bowl: Minnesota 29, Arkansas 14
12-31-2003, Sun Bowl: Minnesota 31, Oregon 30
12-31-2004, Music City Bowl: Minnesota 20, Alabama 16
12-30-2005, Music City Bowl: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31
12-29-2006, Insight Bowl: Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41
12-31-2008, Insight Bowl: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
12-31-2000, Insight Bowl: Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13
12-28-2012, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Texas Tech 34, Minnesota 31
12-27-2013, Texas Bowl: Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17
01-01-2015, Citrus Bowl: Missouri 33, Minnesota 17
12-28-2015, Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 21, Central Michigan 14
12-27-2016, Holiday Bowl: Minnesota 17, Washington State 12
12-26-2018, Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 34, Georgia Tech 10
01-01-2020, Outback Bowl: Minnesota 31, Auburn 31
12-28-2021, Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
12-29-2022, Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20
12-26-2023, Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 30, Bowling Green 24
01-03-2025, Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 6:30 p.m.
Minnesota record vs. bowl opponents
Listed in alphabetical order
Alabama 1-0
Arkansas 1-0
Auburn 1-0
Bowling Green 1-0
Central Michigan 1-0
Clemson 1-0
Georgia Tech 1-0
Iowa State 0-1
Kansas 0-1
Maryland 0-1
Missouri 0-1
North Carolina State 0-1
Oregon 1-1
Syracuse 1-1
Tennessee 0-1
Texas Tech 0-2
UCLA 1-0
Virginia 0-1
Washington 0-1
Washington State 1-0
West Virginia 1-0
Virginia Tech (14-21)
01-01-1947, Sun Bowl: Cincinnati 18, Virginia Tech 6
12-10-1966, Liberty Bowl: Miami 14, Virginia Tech 6
12-14-1968, Liberty Bowl: Mississippi 34, Virginia Tech 17
01-02-1981; Peach Bowl: Miami 20, Virginia Tech 10
12-15-1984, Independence Bowl: Air Force 23, Virginia Tech 7
12-31-1986, Peach Bowl: Virginia Tech 25, North Carolina State 24
12-3-1993, Independence Bowl: Virginia Tech 45, Indiana 20
12-30-1994, Gator Bowl: Tennessee 45, Virginia Tech 23
12-31-1995, Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10
12-31-1996, Orange Bowl: Nebraska 41, Virginia Tech 21
01-01-1998, Gator Bowl: North Carolina 42, Virginia Tech 3
12-29-1998, Music City Bowl: Virginia Tech 38, Alabama 7
01-04-2000, Sugar Bowl: Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29
01-01-2001, Gator Bowl: Virginia Tech 41, Clemson 20
01-02-2002, Gator Bowl: Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 17
12-31-2002, San Francisco Bowl: Virginia Tech 20, Air Force 13
12-26-2003, Insight Bowl: California 52, Virginia Tech 49
01-03-2005, Sugar Bowl: Auburn 16, Virginia Tech 13
01-02-2006, Gator Bowl: Virginia Tech 35, Louisville 24
12-30-2006, Chick-fil-A Bowl: Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24
01-03-2008, Orange Bowl: Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21
01-01-2009, Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
12-31-2009, Chick-fil-A Bowl: Virginia Tech 37, Tennessee 14
01-03-2011, Orange Bowl: Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12
01-03-2012, Sugar Bowl: Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 (OT)
12-28-2012, Russell Athletic Bowl: Virginia Tech 13, Rutgers 10 (OT)
12-31-2013, Sun Bowl: UCLA 42, Virginia Tech 12
12-27-2014, Military Bowl: Virginia Tech 33, Cincinnati 17
12-26-2015, Independence Bowl: Virginia Tech 55, Tulsa 52
12-29-2016, Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech 35, Arkansas 24
12-28-2017, Camping World Bowl: Oklahoma State 30, Virginia Tech 21
12-31-2018, Military Bowl: Cincinnati 35, Virginia Tech 31
12-31-2019, Belk Bowl: Kentucky 37, Virginia Tech 30
12-29-2021, Pinstripe Bowl: Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10
12-27-2023, Military Bowl: Virginia Tech 41, Tulane 20
01-03-2025, Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 6:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech record vs. bowl opponents
Listed in alphabetical order
Air Force 1-1
Alabama 1-0
Arkansas 1-0
Auburn 0-1
California 0-1
Cincinnati 2-2
Clemson 1-0
Florida State 0-2
Georgia 0-1
Indiana 1-0
Kansas 0-1
Kentucky 0-1
Louisville 1-0
Maryland 0-1
Miami 0-2
Michigan 0-1
Mississippi 0-1
Nebraska 0-1
North Carolina 0-1
North Carolina State 1-0
Oklahoma State 0-1
Rutgers 1-0
Stanford 0-1
Tennessee 1-1
Texas 1-0
Tulane 1-0
Tulsa 1-0
UCLA 0-1