Utah State to play in Arizona Bowl versus New Mexico State

The Utah State football team has been given an invite to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl in Tucson, Arizona to play New Mexico State, according to sources from college football insider Brett McMurphy. It will be USU’s sixth bowl game in seven years.

Utah State finished the regular season 6-6 after losing to Air Force 38-35. While already bowl eligible with six wins, a surplus of bowl eligible teams across the country cast some uncertainty over the Aggies’ bowl chances. San Diego State will reportedly play in the Foster Farms Bowl in order for all six eligible Mountain West teams to attend a bowl game.

The bowl is also a milestone for New Mexico State, as the invitation breaks a 57-year bowl drought for USU’s former conference colleague. In a strange and remarkable coincidence, NMSU’s last bowl game appearance was also versus Utah State in the 1960 Sun Bowl. NMSU won the contest 20-13.

The two Aggie teams most recently met in 2012, during USU’s last year in the WAC, with Utah State winning 41-7. USU has won each of the past three meeting and holds the all-time advantage in the series 30-7.

The Arizona Bowl is scheduled for December 29 at 3:30 pm and is planned to be broadcast on CBS Sports.