Florida for New Year's: No. 25 A&M to face No. 17 Wake Forest in Gator Bowl

The Aggies will conclude their football season in Florida for the third time in four years.

On Sunday, No. 25 Texas A&M learned they would play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville against No. 17 Wake Forest.

The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl is Dec. 31 at 10 a.m. CT.

The clash with Wake Forest will be a rematch of the 2017 Belk Bowl in which the Aggies fell, 55-52. That was the Aggies’ final game before coach Jimbo Fisher took over the program.

Current Texas special teams coach Jeff Banks coached the Aggies in place of fired head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Since Jimbo Fisher came to A&M, the Aggies have defeated North Carolina State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, defeated Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl and defeated North Carolina in the Orange Bowl last season.

A&M (8-4) appeared headed to a New Year’s Six bowl game before losing its final two SEC games against Ole Miss and LSU.

That left the Aggies unsure of their bowl game destination. They were in a three-way tie for third place in the SEC West Division with Arkansas and Mississippi State. Also, Kentucky finished 9-3 in the East Division.

Most projections had A&M routed to Florida, but there were also projections the Aggies would end up in the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the Texas Bowl in Houston.

If the Aggies win the Gator Bowl, they will finish with nine wins for the third time in Fisher’s tenure, although the Aggies only played ten games last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.