The Gopher football team’s likely bowl destination is the Rate Bowl in Phoenix the day after Christmas.

It’s a familiar spot after more than 4,000 Minnesota fans turned out in Arizona in 2021 to see the U beat West Virginia 18-6 in the then-named Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ home venue.

After that experience and how this year’s bowl lineup is setting up, there’s mutual interest from the bowl and the Gophers to run it back on Dec. 26 against a Big XII team, the Pioneer Press has learned this week.

The other (less likely) options for the Gophers (7-5) are the Pinstripe Bowl in New York on Dec. 27 and the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31. But it appears probable that Penn State (6-6) heads to the Big Apple and Nebraska (7-5) goes to Sin City.

One potential Big XII team for the Rate Bowl is Iowa State. The Cyclones (8-4) won its final three straight to become bowl eligible, but are expected to lose head coach Matt Campbell to Penn State.

Despite being separated by only 215 miles, Minnesota and Iowa State haven’t played each other since the 2009 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., a 14-13 win for the Cyclones.

The Gophers are 6-0 in bowl games under head coach P.J. Fleck. That unbeaten record, the U’s consistent fan support at bigger road games and at bowls, the effort Minnesota regularly plays with and the often-minimal amount of player opt-out make them an appealing candidate for bowl games.