SU gets Texas Bowl bid, will play Minnesota on Dec. 27

For the third time in his five years at SU, Scott Shafer is going bowling. But this time, he wil lead the Orange as head coach.

"It is great to see an ACC-Big Ten matchup in a terrific bowl game," Shafer said in a statement. "I couldn't be happier for our senior class."

Syracuse (6-6, 4-4 ACC) heads to Houston for the Texas Bowl and will face the Minnesota (8-4, 4-4 Big Ten) on Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. in Reliant Stadium, according to multiple reports. While nothing was confirmed until the Texas Bowl website announced the matchup at 8:45 p.m. Sunday night, Syracuse.com's Nate Mink said he was told by sources about SU's bid two hours before the official anouncement.  

The Orange are 1-3 against the Gophers all-time, falling in match-ups in 2009 and 2012. Syracuse, coming off a thrilling 34-31 victory against Boston College faces a Minnesota team that lost its last two games of the season to Wisconsion and Michigan State.

While the Texas Bowl is typically pairs a Big Ten school against a Big 12 school, not enough teams from the Big 12 won six games, give the Orange the change to fill in and play.