ORLANDO – Buffalo Wild Wings is headquartered in Minneapolis. This is the first year the company has sponsored the Citrus Bowl, and the Gophers somehow landed a spot in it, giving them their first New Year's Day bowl berth since 1962.
Conspiracy theorists might wonder if the Minnesota-based company pulled some strings.
"It's coincidental because we have no role in picking the teams that play in the game," said Bob Ruhland, the company's vice president of North American marketing.
Ruhland works in Minneapolis, but on Tuesday, he was at the Buffalo Wild Wings on International Drive in Orlando, where the Gophers and Missouri held news conferences.
"It never really looked as if it was going to be the Gophers," Ruhland said. "It's interesting how all the planets aligned. It's definitely a coincidence, but we're happy with how it turned out. We're totally psyched to have the Gophers get to be in our inaugural year sponsoring this bowl."
Ruhland noted that Buffalo Wild Wings has restaurants in all 50 states. There are 37 locations in Minnesota, and 34 in Missouri. So what result does the company want Thursday?
"We're known as the proud sponsor of overtime," Ruhland said. "So we would love to have an overtime game."
JOE CHRISTENSEN
