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 Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Golf Football Gymnastics Golf Ice hockeyIce hockey Rowing Swimming and diving Soccer Track and field SoftballWrestling Swimming and diving Tennis Track and field† Volleyball
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
Big Ten Regular Season Championships (8): 1906, 1907, 1911, 1917, 1919, 1937, 1972, 1982 NCAA Tournament Appearances (10): 1972, 1982, 1989, 1990, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019
Sweet 16 Appearances (3): 1982, 1989, 1990
Elite Eight Appearances (1): 1990
NIT Appearances (12): 1973, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2014 NIT Championships (2): 1993, 2014
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 The Little Brown Jug – Accidentally left in Minnesota back in 1903 by Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost, it is painted with the victories of the two teams. Floyd of Rosedale – Since 1935 the Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes have fought to win this bronze pig. The Gophers won the 2010 and 2011 match up for the pig, upsetting the favored Hawkeyes at TCF Bank Stadium. Paul Bunyan's Axe – Minnesota and the Wisconsin Badgers have passed this trophy back and forth since 1948, although it records the two teams' encounters since 1890. Governor's Victory Bell – The bell was created to commemorate the 1993 entrance of Penn State's Nittany Lions into the Big Ten. $5-Bits-O-Broken-Chair Trophy – The newest of the five trophies. From a 2014 exchange on Twitter, Goldy Gopher created a trophy with a parody account of the then coach of Nebraska Bo Pelini.
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
National Championships (2 pre-NCAA, 5 NCAA): 1929, 1940, 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003 WCHA Regular Season Championships (14): 1953, 1954, 1970, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2013 Big Ten Regular Season Championships (7): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2025 Big Ten Tournament Championships (2): 2015, 2021 WCHA Tournament Championships (14): 1961, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2007 NCAA Frozen Four Appearances (22): 1953, 1954, 1961, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2023
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 National Championships (1): 1948 Big Ten Team Championships (6): 1949, 1968, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2009, 2010
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
Big Ten Championships (3): 2002, 2015, 2018 NCAA Tournament Appearances (21): 1989, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Sweet 16 Appearances (16): 1989, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 Final Four Appearances (5): 2003, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016
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.USA Rugby, College Conferences, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc%3D%5BApplication%5D%5C%5CStructure%5C%5CContent%5C%5CBrand%20Resource%20Center%5C%5CContent%5C%5CHome%5C%5C21D9415F-129C-3D1E-45B7-71078B463B81%5C%5C23181D59-131F-BE4F-E441-2B48F8B651A9%7B%7BTab%3AView%7D%7D Minnesota qualified for the national playoffs in 2008, and finished the 2008 season ranked 7th in the nation.Rugby Mag, Final Men's D1 College Top 25, May 17, 2011 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.Rugby Mag, Badgers Ruin Gophers' Party, October 8, 2011, http://www.rugbymag.com/men's-di-college/2262-badgers-ruin-gophers-party.html
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
John Anderson Harry Elliott Brent Gates Jack Hannahan Mark Merila Paul Molitor Denny Neagle
Greg Olson Glen Perkins Robb Quinlan Dick Siebert – coach Terry Steinbach Dave Winfield (also played basketball at Minnesota) Dan Wilson
Basketball
Men's Ron Behagen – Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Walter Bond – Former NBA player, and motivational speaker Randy Breuer – Former NBA player Jim Brewer (basketball) – Former NBA player Willie Burton – Former NBA player Archie Clark – Former NBA player Louis 'Doc' Cooke, coach (1897–1924) Bud Grant – Former NBA player, National Football League (NFL) player and longtime Hall of Fame head coach of the Minnesota Vikings Clem Haskins – coach Lou Hudson – Former NBA player Kris Humphries – NBA player Sam Jacobson – Former NBA player Bobby Jackson – NBA player Mark Landsberger – Former NBA player Voshon Lenard – Former NBA player