The Arizona Wildcats are coming off a disappointing loss to their rival Arizona St. Sun Devils in the Duel in the Desert over a week ago but will still be headed to the postseason. In fact, they'll kick off the bowl schedule when they take on the Nevada Wolf Pack in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 15.

It's the first trip to the New Mexico Bowl for the Wildcats but it's familiar territory for the Wolf Pack. They lost their only previous appearance to the New Mexico Lobos 23-0 in the 2007 edition of the game. It's the 17th trip to a bowl game in Arizona's history.

These teams have face each other before but it has been a while. In fact, last time they played one another the United States was just a few weeks away from becoming involved in World War II. Arizona won that meeting 26-7 in 1941 in a game played in Tucson.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez is looking forward to the postseason bid, especially for his older players.

I'm excited for our seniors. We are thrilled to be playing in Albuquerque. We'll take advantage of the extra practice time and start preparing for Nevada.

The game is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. MT kickoff on Dec. 15.