The University of Minnesota football team has accepted an invitation to compete in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 29, 2022, in New York City.
The Gophers, who went 8-4 in the regular season for the second straight year, will face Syracuse from the ACC at historic Yankee Stadium. This will be the sixth-ever meeting between the Gophers and Orange. Minnesota is 3-2 overall against Syracuse, which finished the regular season with a 7-5 record.
“We are excited to face Syracuse in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl,” said Head Coach P.J. Fleck. “There is no place in the world like New York City, and I am looking forward to our team experiencing its vibrancy, culture and history. I am also excited for our team to compete against the Orange in Yankee Stadium, which is one of the most iconic and well-known sporting venues in the world. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Babers and what he has done with his program, and I know our team is looking forward to competing again on Thursday, Dec. 29.”
The Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl will be the 23rd bowl game all-time for Minnesota and it will also be the fourth bowl game for the Gophers under Fleck. Minnesota is 3-0 in bowl games under Fleck, as it posted wins against West Virginia (2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl), Auburn (2020 Outback Bowl) and Georgia Tech (2018 Quick Lane Bowl).
The Gophers, who have won five straight bowl games, will be playing in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl for the first time. Excluding national championship game appearances, only Alabama has a longer active streak with seven straight bowl wins.
Minnesota has gone 17-6 (.739) away from home, including two bowl wins, in its last 23 games away from home. That stretch, which began with a 37-15 win at Wisconsin on Nov. 24, 2018, is the best 23-game stretch away from home in team history. Since the date of Minnesota’s win at Wisconsin in 2018, the only Big Ten team with more wins or a higher win percentage away from home is Ohio State at 21-3 (.875).
The Gophers went 3-0 in nonconference play this year and now face Syracuse in a nonconference game at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. Since Fleck arrived in Minnesota in 2017, Minnesota has gone 17-1 against non-conference opponents, including bowl games, which gives it the fourth best winning percentage in the FBS.