Memphis and NC State to play in 2025 Gasparilla Bowl

A giant treasure chest will be on the line on Friday, Dec. 19.

The 2025 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl kicks off from Tampa, FL that afternoon, pitting together the Memphis Tigers (8-4, 4-4 American) and NC State Wolfpack (7-5, 4-4 ACC) at Raymond James Stadium. The matchup signifies the first-ever meeting between the American Conference and ACC programs.

Memphis is bowling for an American-best 12th-straight year, and the Tigers can clinch a third-straight 9-win season and fifth-straight bowl win in Tampa. The program recently lost six-year head coach Ryan Silverfield to Arkansas, so those feats must be attained under defensive backs coach Reggie Howard, who will serve as the interim head coach before Charles Huff takes over in 2026. Memphis won each of its last four bowls under Silverfield, emerging with trophies in the 2020 Montgomery, 2022 First Responder, 2023 Liberty, and 2024 Frisco Bowls (with the 2021 Hawaii Bowl getting axed due to COVID-19). The Tigers also enter this matchup riding an 11-game win streak over non-conference opponents dating back to September 2023.

Memphis, which controlled its own destiny for the College Football Playoff in the first week of November, looks to shed its active 3-game losing streak in the Gasparilla Bowl.

NC State is bowling for the 4th-straight year and for the 10th time under longtime head coach Dave Doeren. The Wolfpack strive for postseason success after dropping each of their last five bowls. Their last bowl victory transpired over Arizona State in the 2017 Sun Bowl. The Wolfpack are facing an American Conference opponent for a second-consecutive December, falling to East Carolina 26-21 in last year’s Military Bowl. However, the Wolfpack are 1-0 against the conference in 2025, exacting revenge on the Pirates in the season opener.

Both teams are making their second appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl. Memphis qualified in the inaugural 2008 contest, dubbed the St. Petersburg Bowl at the time, taking a 41-14 defeat to South Florida. NC State played in the renamed Bitcoin Bowl six years later in 2014, upending UCF in 34-27 fashion. Neither of those games took place at Raymond James Stadium, however, but Memphis is familiar with the venue. The Tigers are 4-0 at Raymond James since 2004, regularly defeating conference rival South Florida on the road in the past two decades.

The 2025 Gasparilla Bowl between Memphis and NC State is slated for Friday, Dec. 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The winner hoists one of the more unique bowl trophies — a giant treasure chest.