San Diego State will go bowling for the first time since 2022 when it faces North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 27 in Albuquerque, organizers announced Sunday.
The Aztecs had gone to bowls 12 times in 13 seasons from 2010 through 2022. The interruption to that streak came in 2020, when it withdrew from consideration in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
The run ended in 2023 when San Diego State was 4-8. The Aztecs were 3- 9 in 2024, Sean Lewis' first season as coach but improved to 9-3 this season.
The six-win improvement in regular-season play matches the largest in the history of the program, which began in 1921. San Diego State went from 1-6- 1 in 1960 to 7-2-1, the late Don Coryell's first season as coach.
Coryell was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Mean Green (11-2) dropped three spots to 23rd in The Associated Press and one spot to 25th in the College Football Playoff rankings, both released Sunday, two days after a 34-21 loss to Tulane in the American Conference Championship game that cost it a berth in the College Football Playoff.
The Aztecs are 6-1 against North Texas, including a 30-12 victory in 1975, their most recent meeting.
San Diego State defeated Central Michigan, 48-11, in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl, its only previous appearance in the game.
The New Mexico Bowl will be Eric Morris' final game as the Mean Green's coach. He was hired by Oklahoma State as its coach Nov. 25 following the conclusion of the 2025 season, including postseason games.
Morris is 22-16 in three seasons as New Mexico's coach, including an 11-14 record in his first two seasons.
