Leonard Hankerson and the 'Canes will face Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl.

Miami (7-4, 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) has accepted an invitation to play Notre Dame (7-5) in the nation’s second-oldest bowl game. The Hurricanes and Irish will meet in the 77th annual Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 31 in El Paso, Texas. The Hyundai Sun Bowl will be televised nationally by CBS with kickoff set for 2 p.m. EST from Sun Bowl Stadium.

“The University of Miami is honored to accept the invitation to the Hyundai Sun Bowl,” UM Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said. “The Sun Bowl and the people of El Paso have a reputation for first-class hospitality and service to the student-athlete experience during bowl week. I don’t think we could have asked for a more attractive opponent than Notre Dame.

“Our two universities have a great history on the gridiron,” Hocutt added, noting that the Sun Bowl will be a prelude to the schools’ upcoming three-game series.

The Hurricanes are making their third-straight postseason bowl appearance and 36th overall. The matchup versus Notre Dame will mark the `Canes first trip to the Hyundai Sun Bowl. Miami is 7-15-1 all-time versus the Fighting Irish, with the last meeting coming in 1990, when Notre Dame defeated Miami 29-20 in South Bend. This will be the first meeting of the two teams in the postseason.

“This is one of those situations where the history speaks for itself,” said Miami interim head coach Jeff Stoutland. “We have two great programs that have a rich football tradition, and we are playing in the second-oldest bowl on national television.”

Miami is 19-16 in its 35 previous bowls and 6-4 in its last 10. The Hurricanes have lost their last two postseason games, with UM’s last bowl victory coming against Nevada, 21-20, in the 2006 MPC Computers Bowl.

During the summer of 2010, the `Canes and Irish agreed to a three-game series that will begin in 2012 in Chicago. Miami will visit South Bend in 2016, and Notre Dame will come to Sun Life Stadium in 2017.

For official bowl travel, please visit www.hurricanesportstravel.com to be a part of the official fan travel party to El Paso.

Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting www.hurricanesports.com or by calling 1-800-GO-CANES.