ST. PAUL — The Gophers’ streak of six straight bowl wins under head coach P.J. Fleck will be challenged by a quality New Mexico team in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26.

First-year head coach Jason Eck has turned around a once-moribund Lobos program, going 9-3 overall, 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference and producing the program’s first win over a Big Ten school, 35-10 over UCLA on Sept. 12. New Mexico lost its season opener at then-14th-ranked Michigan, 34-17, on Aug. 30, but ended two long losing streaks to Air Force (25 years on the road) and Colorado State (13 straight games) to finish with its first winning season since Bob Davie was the coach in 2016.

The first meeting between the Minnesota and New Mexico will kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT at Chase Field and will air on ESPN.

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