The Gophers football team will not accept a bowl invite this season, the athletics department announced Sunday.

Minnesota’s season will conclude with a 20-17 loss to Wisconsin Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. That game was rescheduled after previously being canceled amid a rise of COVID-19 cases within the Gophers’ program. After the game, Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said the team hadn’t yet made a decision whether it would compete in a bowl game should it receive an invite.

Fleck said in a statement Sunday the decision was made with the health and safety of the student-athletes in mind. Minnesota will resume practices in the spring semester.

“The season was filled with daily off-field adversity caused by the pandemic, but their desire to play never wavered and they sacrificed so much in their personal lives to be able to compete for the Maroon and Gold this year,” Fleck said in the statement. “Right now, our focus is strictly on their well-being off the field, and we look forward to them being able to responsibly spend some of the remaining holiday season with family and loved ones.

“We will return our attention to football when everyone is back on campus in mid-January.”