BREAKING: Virginia Tech Will Play Minnesota in The Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Virginia Tech’s official bowl destination has been announced. The Hokies are headed to Charlotte to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The game will be held at Bank of America Stadium, only a 2 hour and 33 minute drive from Lane Stadium, according to Apple Maps.
The game will kickoff on January 3rd at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This will mark Virginia Tech’s third time playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Hokies hold a 1-1 record in the bowl game that was formerly known as the Belk Bowl. Most recently, Virginia Tech lost to Kentucky 37-30 in 2019. The Hokies’ only win in this bowl game was in 2016 when the No. 18 Hokies took down Arkansas 35-24.
The Hokies have now made consecutive bowl games for the first time since the 2019 and 2018 seasons. As it stands, Brent Pry is undefeated in bowl games with a 41-20 win against No. 23 Tulane in the Military Bowl last year.
On the other side, this is Minnesota’s fourth consecutive bowl game. The Gophers are 7-0 in their last seven bowl games and P.J. Fleck’s bowl game record as a head coach is 5-0.
This year, Minnesota holds a better record than Virginia Tech. The Gophers went 7-5 this year with a 5-4 record against the Big Ten. Fleck’s squad picked up some signature wins against No. 11 USC, No. 24 Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Virginia Tech just barely clinched bowl eligibility as the Hokies had four opportunities to get their sixth win on the season down the stretch. The Hokies played Syracuse, No. 23 Clemson, Duke, and Virginia. Syracuse and Duke narrowly beat the Hokies, and Clemson had their way, but the Hokies’ dominance in their in-state rivalry led them to another bowl game.
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Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell