Expert predicts Gophers will play in Mayo Bowl
![Dec 27, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown gets covered in mayonnaise after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports Dec 27, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown gets covered in mayonnaise after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5081,h_2858,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/all_gophers/01j5ne19yr652x86jer3.jpg)
It is officially game week in the college football world with six FBS teams preparing for season-opening Week Zero games, so there is no time better than the present to look at preseason bowl predictions.
National college football analyst Brett McMurphy has released a projection for every single bowl game and he thinks the Minnesota Gophers will be going to the Duke's Mayo Bowl against Louisville on Jan. 3, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. .
If you think specific, preseason bowl predictions are as crazy as putting mayo in coffee, than you'll really think that it's crazy to make Louisville a 13.5-point favorite over Minnesota in this hypothetical matchup. Alas, here we are...
The Mayo Bowl was originally the Continental Tire Bowl from 2002-04, then the Meineke Car Care Center Bowl from 2005-10, and lastly the Belk Bowl from 2011-19 before taking its name today. The Gophers have never played in any iteration of the game.
McMurphy's projections have Minnesota as one of the 12 Big Ten teams playing in a bowl game this season. With the debut of the new 12-team College Football Playoff this season, the entire postseason and meaning attached to bowl games will be different than in years past.
A Jan. 3 game would be Minnesota's first bowl game in the new year since the Outback Bowl in 2020 against Auburn.