The Toledo Rockets will be making the program’s third straight bowl trip in 2023, heading across America to a state the program has never ventured to for a postseason game.
The 11-2 Rockets are headed to the Old Pueblo to play in the Arizona Bowl, held inside the University of Arizona’s Memorial Stadium on Dec. 30.
The Rockets face 8-4 Wyoming out of the Mountain West. The Cowboys are looking to send coach Craig Bohl into retirement with a victory. Toledo’s northern Ohio campus is just over 1,900 miles by plane to the southern Arizona city, making Toledo one of the longest jetsetters of this year’s bowl season. Overall, the Rockets’ bowl trip ranks 10th overall by distance.
Toledo fans can’t gripe too much about their bowl travels, however, as the Rockets rank well behind other schools, such as Coastal Carolina, which has to venture 4,792 miles from its South Carolina campus to play in this year’s Hawai’i Bowl, held on the University of Hawaii campus in Honolulu.
Ahead of the Rockets’ late December showdown against the Cowboys in Tucson and to aid in your Ohio sports betting, BetOhio.com broke down the numbers on which schools will have to travel the farthest this bowl season.
Perhaps because of the long travel, Ohio betting apps list Washington as the longest shot on the board to win the College Football Playoff national championship at +750. Michigan is the favorite at +185.
Rockets Trip Double That of Wyoming
The Rockets will have to travel roughly twice as far as their Arizona Bowl foe in 2023, with Wyoming making a 1,000-mile jaunt from its Laramie campus.
Of the 10 teams that have the farthest trips this bowl season, eight will have to venture at least 2,000 miles to play, while only the Chanticleers have to venture more than 3,000. As for the game itself, Toledo is currently listed as a 3-point underdog against Wyoming on ESPN BET Ohio, with a +140 moneyline.
Since 2014, Toledo has gone 4-6 in bowl games, winning the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl against Liberty, 21-19, to cap off a 9-5 campaign under coach Jason Candle. This year, the Rockets will look to do the same in Southern Arizona, as Toledo seeks the program’s first 12-win season since going 12-0 in 1971. That year, Toledo capped off the season with a Tangerine Bowl win over Richmond.
