The game, which was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams, was broadcast at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN, and featured the Minnesota Golden Gophers from the Big Ten Conference against the Texas Tech Red Raiders from the Big 12 Conference.
[2] This was not the first time the Golden Gophers and Red Raiders met in a bowl game; the two teams had previously met in the 2006 Insight Bowl, with the Red Raiders winning 44–41 in overtime.
The Golden Gophers finished at the bottom of the Big Ten's Legends Division, only posting a 2–6 mark in conference play.
The Red Raiders finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big 12 at 4–5 in conference play, holding tiebreakers ahead of the TCU Horned Frogs and West Virginia Mountaineers but behind the Baylor Bears.
The Red Raiders' passing attack was the second-best in the country, averaging 362 yards per game.