↑ arvau

Wikipedia / Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Ten Conference.

The Gophers women's ice hockey team is a six-time NCAA champion and seven-time national champion. In women's ice hockey, the Gophers belong to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. In all other sports, they belong to the Big Ten Conference. Most of the facilities that the teams use for training and competitive play are located on the East Bank of the Minneapolis campus. There are arenas for men's and women's basketball (Williams Arena) as well as ice hockey (Mariucci Arena and Ridder Arena). The Gopher football team began playing at Huntington Bank Stadium in September 2009. The women's soccer team plays on the St. Paul campus in the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

The Cheerleaders and the Dance Team are also part of the university's athletic department; they are present at events for basketball, ice hockey, and football, and compete for UCA/UDA national titles in the winter. The University of Minnesota spirit squad was the first as sideline cheerleading was invented at the U of M, and it prides itself in being one of the largest spirit squads in the country. The U of M spirit squad currently consists of three cheerleading teams (all girl, coed, and small coed), a dance team, Goldy Gopher, and a unique ice hockey cheerleading team. The dance team won its 19th national title in 2019.

During the 2006–07 academic year, the Golden Gophers wrestling team won the NCAA national championship and the Big Ten team title. The Golden Gophers also won conference championships in men's ice hockey, men's golf, women's rowing, men's swimming and diving, and women's indoor track and field.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

  • National Championships (3):

  • 1956, 1960, 1964

  • NCAA Tournament Appearances (32):

  • 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2018

  • Big Ten Regular Season Championships (24):

  • 1933, 1935, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2016, 2018

  • Big Ten Conference Tournament Championships (9):

  • 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2018

Men's basketball

Note: A 1997 Big Ten regular season championship, NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994, 1995, 1997 (Final Four), and 1999, as well as NIT appearances in 1996 and 1998 (Championship) were vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

Women's basketball

  • NCAA Tournament Appearances (10):

  • 1994, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2018

  • Sweet 16 Appearances (3):

  • 2003, 2004, 2005

  • Elite Eight Appearances (1):

  • 2004

  • Final Four Appearances (1):

  • 2004

Men's cross country

  • Big Ten Team Championships (4):

  • 1909, 1914, 1964, 1969

Women's cross country

  • Big Ten Team Championships (2):

  • 2007, 2008

Football

  • National Championships (7):

  • 1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960

  • Big Ten Conference Championships (18):

  • 1900, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1915, 1927, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1960, 1967

  • Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest Championships (2):

  • 1892, 1893

  • Bowl Games (20):

  • Citrus Bowl – 2015

  • Duke's Mayo Bowl - 2025

  • Guaranteed Rate Bowl - 2021

  • Hall of Fame Classic –1977

  • Holiday Bowl – 2016

  • Independence Bowl – 1985

  • Insight Bowl – 2006, 2008, 2009

  • Liberty Bowl – 1986

  • MicronPC.com Bowl – 2000

  • Music City Bowl – 2002, 2004, 2005

  • Outback Bowl – 2020

  • Pinstripe Bowl - 2022

  • Quick Lane Bowl – 2015, 2018

  • Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas – 2012

  • Quick Lane Bowl - 2023

  • Rose Bowl – 1961, 1962

  • Sun Bowl – 1999, 2003

  • Texas Bowl – 2013

  • Bowl game victories: 1962 Rose Bowl, 1985 Independence Bowl, 2002 Music City Bowl, 2003 Sun Bowl, 2004 Music City Bowl, 2015 Quick Lane Bowl, 2016 Holiday Bowl, 2018 Quick Lane Bowl, 2020 Outback Bowl, 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, 2022 Pinstripe Bowl, 2023 Quick Lane Bowl, 2025 Duke's Mayo Bowl

Traveling trophies

Golf

Men's golf

  • National Championships (1):

  • 2002

  • Individual National Champions (2):

  • 1944 – Louis Lick

  • 1998 – James McLean

  • Big Ten Team Championships (8):

  • 1929, 1938, 1963, 1972, 2002, 2003, 2007 (co-champions), 2014

Women's golf

  • Big Ten Team Championships (1):

  • 1989

Gymnastics

Men's gymnastics

  • Big Ten Team Championships (21):

  • 1903, 1907, 1910, 1925, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995

Women's gymnastics

  • Big Ten Team Championships (5):

  • 1988, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2006

Men's ice hockey

Women's ice hockey

  • National Championships (7):

  • 2000 (AWCHA), 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016

  • WCHA Regular Season Championships (8):

  • 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014

  • WCHA Tournament Championships (7):

  • 2002, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

  • NCAA Frozen Four Appearances (15):

  • 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Women's rowing

  • Big Ten Championships (1):

  • 2007

  • NCAA Champions in V2

  • 2007

Women's soccer

  • Big Ten Championships (4):

  • 1995, 1997, 2008, 2016

Softball

  • Big Ten Regular Season Championships (4):

  • 1986, 1988, 1991, 2017

  • Big Ten Tournament Championships (5):

  • 1999, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018

  • Women's College World Series appearances (3):

  • 1976, 1978, 2019

Spirit Squads

Dance Team

  • National Championships (13):

  • 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019

Swimming

Men's swimming

  • Big Ten Team Championships (9):

  • 1922, 1926, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007

Women's swimming

  • Big Ten Team Championships (7):

  • 1999, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Men's tennis

  • Big Ten Team Championships (15):

  • 1910, 1911, 1912, 1918, 1932, 1933, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2015

Track and field

Men's track

Outdoor track and field

Indoor track and field

  • Big Ten Team Championships (4):

  • 1998, 2009, 2010, 2011

Women's track

Outdoor track and field

  • Big Ten Team Championships (3):

  • 2006, 2016, 2018

Indoor track and field

  • Big Ten Team Championships (4):

  • 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018

Volleyball

Wrestling

  • National Championships (3):

  • 2001, 2002, 2007

  • Big Ten Team Championships (12):

  • 1910, 1912, 1913, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007

Notable non varsity sports

Rugby

Minnesota rugby plays Division I college rugby in the Big Ten Universities conference against traditional Big Ten rivals such as Wisconsin and Iowa. Minnesota qualified for the national playoffs in 2008, and finished the 2008 season ranked 7th in the nation. Some of Minnesota's games have been well attended by fans, with the team drawing as many as 6,000 fans to watch the team play at TCF Bank Stadium.

Traditions

The "Golden" Gophers

The University Mascot is derived from a nickname for the state of Minnesota, "The Gopher State." The original design was based on the thirteen-lined ground squirrel. The state nickname derives from a political cartoon by R. O. Sweeny, published as a broadside in 1858. The cartoon depicted state legislators as gophers dragging the state in the wrong direction. The nickname was associated with the university as early as the publication of the first yearbook in 1888, which was titled "The Gopher". Other early yearbooks included depictions of gophers as well, and the University of Minnesota football coach Clarence Spears officially named the football team the Gophers in 1926. After the radio announcer Halsey Hall began referring to the team as the Golden Gophers due to the color of their uniforms, the team was renamed under coach Bernie Bierman.

School songs

School songs for the university include Minnesota Rouser, Minnesota March, Go Gopher Victory, Our Minnesota, Minnesota Fight, Hail! Minnesota, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Notable athletes and coaches

Baseball

Basketball

Men's

Women's

Football

Players

Coaches

Golf

Gymnastics

Hockey

Men's

Women's

Swimming

Track and field

Women's

Men's

Wrestling

Athletic directors

  1. Note: From 1974 to 2002, there were separate athletic departments for men and women's sports.

Facilities

Current facilities

Former facilities

See also

References