Virginia Tech Football: New Expert Prediction Favors Minnesota In Dukes Mayo Bowl Matchup

Virginia Tech is set to face Minnesota in the Dukes Mayo Bowl on January 3rd and for a number of reasons, this is going to be a difficult matchup. Even if both teams had their complete rosters, Minnesota might hold the edge in the game, but Virginia Tech has been one of the hardest hit teams when it comes to the transfer portal and they will be without several impact players. The Golden Gophers are favored in this game and Bleacher Report's David Kenyon is picking Minnesota as well. Kenyon picked every bowl game in a recent article and is picking Minnesota to win 24-20.

While it is very early to be giving predictions for this game, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg gave his early thoughts on the game and he is favoring the Golden Gophers early on:

"P.J. Fleck was born to play and coach football, brainstorm mottos and eventually douse himself in mayonnaise after winning a bowl game. Can't you see it now? Fleck's team wasn't far away from a much better season and boasts a solid formula of defense, Darius Taylor's running and quarterback Max Brosmer's efficient passing. Virginia Tech had far greater expectations than 6-6 this season, and could be facing some damaging personnel departures before January. The Hokies are very talented with running back Bhayshul Tuten, defensive end Antwaun Powell-Ryland and others, but there has been something missing all season. But Minnesota will win, setting up an epic mayo dump for Fleck."

The game will kickoff on January 3rd at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This will mark Virginia Tech’s third time playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Hokies hold a 1-1 record in the bowl game that was formerly known as the Belk Bowl. Most recently, Virginia Tech lost to Kentucky 37-30 in 2019. The Hokies’ only win in this bowl game was in 2016 when the No. 18 Hokies took down Arkansas 35-24.

The Hokies have now made consecutive bowl games for the first time since the 2019 and 2018 seasons. As it stands, Brent Pry is undefeated in bowl games with a 41-20 win against No. 23 Tulane in the Military Bowl last year.

On the other side, this is Minnesota’s fourth consecutive bowl game. The Gophers are 7-0 in their last seven bowl games and P.J. Fleck’s bowl game record as a head coach is 5-0.

This year, Minnesota holds a better record than Virginia Tech. The Gophers went 7-5 this year with a 5-4 record against the Big Ten. Fleck’s squad picked up some signature wins against No. 11 USC, No. 24 Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Virginia Tech just barely clinched bowl eligibility as the Hokies had four opportunities to get their sixth win on the season down the stretch. The Hokies played Syracuse, No. 23 Clemson, Duke, and Virginia. Syracuse and Duke narrowly beat the Hokies, and Clemson had their way, but the Hokies’ dominance in their in-state rivalry led them to another bowl game.

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