Longest streak
Gophers have eight straight bowl wins
NOTE: Be looking for a fun fact that (sort of) relates to the Minnesota-New Mexico game later!
Minnesota has the longest active bowl game winning streak in the nation heading into its matchup with New Mexico in the Rate Bowl on Friday in Phoenix.
Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m., at Chase Field and the game will be televised on ESPN with Mike Monaco (PXP), Kirk Morrison (analyst) and Dawn Davenport (reporter).
The Golden Gophers have a 7-5 record and the Lobos are 9-3.
Current streak
The Golden Gophers have won eight straight bowl games dating back to Dec. 28, 2015.
Here are the longest current bowl game winning streaks.
Listed are consecutive wins, school and years. (Upcoming opponent or latest result in parentheses if applicable)
8 Minnesota 2015-2024 (New Mexico 12-26-25)
7 Ohio 2017-2025 (Defeated UNLV 17-10 12-23-25)
5 Air Force 2016-2023 (None)
5 Northwestern 2016-2023 (Central Michigan 12-26-25)
4 Buffalo 2019-2024 (None)
4 Texas Christian 2017-2024 (USC 12-30-25)
4 Arkansas 2021-2024 (None)
3 Georgia State 2020-2023 (None)
3 Louisiana State 2022-2024 (Houston 12-27-25)
3 Maryland 2021-2023 (None)
3 Mississippi 2023-2025 (Georgia 01-01-26)
3 Navy 2017-2024 (Cincinnati 01-02-26)
3 Notre Dame 2022-2024 (None)
Fourth-longest
Minnesota is tied for the fourth longest bowl winning streak in college football history.
Florida State holds the record with 11 consecutive wins from 1985-1995. USC and Utah have both had nine-game winning streaks.
Alabama, Boston College and UCLA have also had eight-game streaks. A win over the Lobos would move Minnesota into a three-way tie for the second-longest streak all-time.
Here are the longest bowl game win streaks in college football history. Listed are consecutive wins, school and years.
11 Florida State 1985-1995
9 USC 1922-1944
9 Utah 1999-2009
8 Minnesota 2015-2024
8 Alabama 2015-2022
8 Boston College 2000-2007
8 UCLA 1982-1991
7 Georgia Tech 1947-1956
7 Marshall 2009-2018
7 Syracuse 1988-1996
7 UCLA 1982-1988
7 Utah 2003-2009
7 Ohio 2017-2025
Big Ten
Minnesota has the longest bowl winning streak by a Big Ten school in conference history.
Among current Big Ten schools, USC has had a nine-game winning streak and UCLA an eight-game streak, but both were well before joining the conference. The Trojans’ streak spanned from 1923-1945 and the Bruins from 1981-1988.
Here are the longest bowl winning streaks ever for each Big Ten school:
9: USC
8: Minnesota
8: UCLA
7: Ohio State
6: Nebraska
5: Rutgers
5: Wisconsin
4: Iowa
4: Michigan
4: Michigan State
4: Northwestern
4: Oregon
4: Penn State
4: Washington
3: Illinois
3: Maryland
3: Purdue
1: Indiana
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 he also ran the ball nine times for 34 yards and another TD.
Traveling in style
The New Mexico football team arrived in Phoenix in style Tuesday.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Lobos rode a chartered passenger jet owned by the New England Patriots, whose tail prominently displayed decals of the six Lombardi trophies the team has won, for the short trip from Albuquerque.
The fact Tuesday’s flight happened to be one of the planes used by the Patriots doesn’t mean Robert Kraft or Tom Brady got on the horn and demanded a jet be sent to Albuquerque to get the Lobos to the Rate Bowl; it just happened to be the private plane that was most readily available.
Using chartered flights is not uncommon for UNM athletics. The men’s and women’s basketball teams often charter smaller jets used by NASCAR teams to get to various locations around the Mountain West Conference, places that would otherwise cause logistical headaches with normal commercial travel.
The teams generally fly directly into places like Laramie, Wyo.; Boise, Idaho; and Logan, Utah — places that typically don’t offer direct flights to Albuquerque and that have smaller airports that can only accommodate jets smaller than the typical planes used for commercial trips.
Former New Mexico and Minnesota men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino said the demands of flying commercially with college athletes who usually take up more space than the average traveler — not to mention the flexibility of flying on the team’s schedule rather than the airline’s — was another important reason for flying chartered jets.
Minnesota results
All-time bowl results for the Gophers:
1961 Rose Bowl: Washington 17, Minnesota 7
1962 Rose Bowl: Minnesota 21, UCLA 3
1977 Hall of Fame Bowl: Maryland 17, Minnesota 7
1985 Independence Bowl: Minnesota 20, Clemson 13
1986 Liberty Bowl: Tennessee 21, Minnesota 14
1999 Sun Bowl: Oregon 24, Minnesota 20
2000 MicroPC.com Bowl: North Carolina State 38, Minnesota 30
2002 Music City Bowl: Minnesota 29, Arkansas 14
2003 Sun Bowl: Minnesota 31, Oregon 30
2004 Music City Bowl: Minnesota 20, Alabama 16
2005 Music City Bowl: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31
2006 Insight Bowl: Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41
2008 Insight Bowl: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
2009 Insight Bowl: Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13
2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Texas Tech 34, Minnesota 31
2013 Texas Bowl: Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17
2015 Citrus Bowl: Missouri 33, Minnesota 17
2015 Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 21, Central Michigan 14
2016 Holiday Bowl: Minnesota 17, Washington State 12
2018 Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 34, Georgia Tech 10
2020 Outback Bowl: Minnesota 31, Auburn 31
2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
2022 Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20
2023 Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota 30, Bowling Green 24
2024 Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 10
2025 Rate Bowl: Minnesota vs. New Mexico
Bowl results
The bowl game now known as the Rate Bowl was originally named the Copper Bowl. It has undergone several name changes due to sponsorship rights.
Copper Bowl
12-31-1989: Arizona 17, North Carolina State 10
12-31-1990: California 17, Wyoming 15
12-31-1991: Indiana 24, Baylor 0
12-29-1992: Washington State 31, Utah 28
12-29-1993: Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17
12-29-1994: BYU 31, Oklahoma 6
12-27-1995: Texas Tech 55, Air Force 41
12-26-1996: Wisconsin 38, Utah 10
Insight.com Bowl
12-27-1997: Arizona 20, New Mexico 14
12-26-1998: Missouri 34, West Virginia 31
12-31-1999: Colorado 62, Boston College 28
12-28-2000: Iowa State 37, Pittsburgh 29
12-29-2001: Syracuse 26, Kansas State 3
Insight Bowl
12-26-2002: Pittsburgh 38, Oregon State 13
12-26-2003: California 52, Virginia Tech 49
12-28-2004: Oregon State 38, Notre Dame 21
12-27-2005: Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40
12-29-2006: Texas Tech 44, Minnesota 41 (OT)
12-31-2007: Oklahoma State 49, Indiana 33
12-31-2008: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
12-31-2009: Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13
12-28-2010: Iowa 27, Missouri 24
12-30-2011: Oklahoma 31, Iowa 14
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
12-29-2012: Michigan State 17, TCU 16
12-28-2013: Kansas State 31, Michigan 14
Cactus Bowl
01-02-2015: Oklahoma State 30, Washington 22
01-02-2016: West Virginia 43, Arizona State 42
12-27-2016: Baylor 31, Boise State 12
12-27-2017: Kansas State 35, UCLA 17
Cheez-It Bowl
12-26-2018: TCU 10, California 7 (OT)
12-27-2019: Air Force 31, Washington State 21
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
12-26-2020: Canceled, insufficient number of teams available
12-28-2021: Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
12-27-2022: Wisconsin 24, Oklahoma State 17
12-26-2023: Kansas 49, UNLV 36
Rate Bowl
12-26-2024: Kansas State 44, Rutgers 41
Home Bowl games
The last four bowl appearances for New Mexico have been in the team’s own stadium.
The Lobos played in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl in 2006, then again in 2007, 2015 and 2016, but nothing since.
The last time New Mexico played in a bowl game outside the state since the 2004 Emerald Bowl against Navy in San Francisco.
All-time bowl results for the Lobos:
1939 Sun Bowl: Utah 26, New Mexico 0
1944 Sun Bowl: Southwestern 7, New Mexico 0
1946 Sun Bowl: New Mexico 34, Denver 21
1947 Harbor Bowl: New Mexico 13, Montana State 13 (tie)
1961 Aviation Bowl: New Mexico 28, Western Michigan 12
1997 Insight.com Bowl: Arizona 20, New Mexico 14
2002 Las Vegas Bowl: UCLA 27, New Mexico 1`3
2003 Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State 55, New Mexico 14
2004 Emerald Bowl: Navy 34, New Mexico 19
2006 New Mexico Bowl: San Jose State 20, New Mexico 12
2007 New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico 23, Nevada 0
2015 New Mexico Bowl: Arizona 45, New Mexico 37
2016 New Mexico Bowl: 23, UTSA 20
Roster check
Each team has one player from the other team’s state on its roster.
The New Mexico native on Minnesota’s roster is Mark Handy, a 6-foot-7, 320-pound sophomore offensive lineman from Albuquerque La Cueva.
Minneapolis South graduate Kader Diop (5-11, 176), a junior wide receiver, is the Minnesotan on New Mexico’s roster. He played at San Diego Mesa Community College, Southwestern College (Chula Vista, Calif. and Concordia University (St. Paul) before joining the Lobos.
Uni-watch
It will be a color-on-color matchup Friday as the Lobos will wear the turquoise jerseys, and Minnesota will wear maroon jerseys with gold numbers.
REMINDER: Be looking for that fun fact that (sort of) relates to the Minnesota-New Mexico game later today!