Gophers Accept Bid to Quick Lane Bowl

Rutgers beat North Carolina in the inaugural Quick Lane Bowl, 40-21.

It will be Central Michigan’s first trip to Ford Field to compete in a bowl game since the Chippewas defeated Western Kentucky in the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

Central Michigan will take on similarly-colored Minnesota in Detroit at 5 p.m. December 28 (ESPN).

The NCAA based the fill-the-empty-spots pecking order on the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, and the Gophers’ grades positioned them well. He is scheduled to talk more about the bowl bid at a Sunday evening news conference.

Jerry Kill resigned as Minnesota head coach just before their game against MI, which the team lost after failing to score on the game’s final play.

Minnesota (5-7, 2-6 Big Ten West) was added to the bowl field after not enough teams became bowl eligible.

It’s the first time Minnesota will play in the Quick Lane Bowl and the fourth straight season the Gophers will finish with a bowl game.

The Gophers looked to be spending the postseason in the Twin Cities after losing the regular-season finale to Wisconsin to drop to 5-7 and seemingly miss bowl eligibility. The Chippewas have not played in a bowl game during back-to-back seasons since 2008 and 2009.