By: Aj Mansour | KFAN.com
@AjKFAN
Minneapolis, MN - Christmas came a little early for the Golden Gophers football team who learned on Sunday that they had been invited to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston Texas on December 28th.
"We are thrilled to be heading to Houston to play in the Meineke Care Car Bowl of Texas," said Kill. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our team to get better and a great accomplishment for our senior class. We have 13 players from Texas and I know they will be excited to play in their home state."
The Gophers will begin preparations this week to face a high flying Texas Tech team that scores nearly 38 points per game and finished the season 7-5. They will bring the nations 12th bet offense to Houston and will pose a big test for Jerry Kill and the Golden Gophers.
"Texas Tech is a great team and we will have our hands full," Coach Kill said. "However, I know our team will be ready to play and will do their best to represent both the university and state of Minnesota."
It's been a long road for this year's senior class, many of whom have suffered through the cycling of coaches and have yet to have the opportunity for post season football.
"Our goal all year was to qualify for a bowl game," said Gray. "I am happy for our senior class, the rest of the team and our coaching staff. We have worked hard all season to be able to reach the postseason, and it is a good feeling to know we accomplished one of our goals. However, we are not satisfied. We will continue to work hard and will do our best to try and win this bowl game for Minnesota."
This year's appearance in a bowl game marks a big step forward for Jerry Kill and the Gophers Football Program. It's been four seasons since the Gophers last made an appearance in the post season and this year's team is hoping to make it memorable.
"Our student-athletes and coaching staff have worked hard this year to reach this important milestone," Minnesota director of athletics Norwood Teague said. "It would have been impossible without the continued support of Gophers fans. So we hope Gopher fans will join us in Houston to cheer on our team. We are working on attractive travel packages with Creative Charters for our fans and look forward to having a strong contingent of Maroon and Gold in the stands."
The game will be played at Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas at 8pm on December 28th, 2012. It will also be televised nationally on ESPN and can be heard LIVE on 100.3FM KFAN Radio and AM1130.
Aj Mansour covers the Twins, Vikings, & Gopher Football for KFAN.com. Feel free to leave comments and questions on this post or others in the designated comment box below. For Golden Gopher updates and breaking news follow Aj on Twitter @AjKFAN
