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.
Contents
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
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 (11):
1994, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009,
2015, 2018, 2026
Sweet 16 Appearances (4):
2003, 2004, 2005, 2026
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
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
Men's tennis
Big Ten Team Championships (15):
1910, 1911, 1912, 1918, 1932, 1933, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2015
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. 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
Golf
Tom Lehman
James McLean
Gymnastics
Newt Loken
Joey Ray
Marie Roethlisberger
John Roethlisberger
Hockey
Winny Brodt
Natalie Darwitz
Courtney Kennedy
Gisele Marvin
Noora Raty
Jenny Schmidgall-Potter
Krissy Wendell
Swimming
Steve Jackman (born 1941)
Yoav Meiri (born 1975), Israeli Olympic swimmer
Justin Mortimer
Bar Soloveychik (born 2000), Israeli swimmer
Track and field
Gabriele Grunewald
Hassan Mead
Buddy Edelen
Wrestling
Shelton Benjamin — professional wrestler, 36–6 record in two seasons with the Gophers.
Verne Gagne – NCAA champion, owner of the defunct American Wrestling Association and its former heavyweight champion (10 times), member of Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and several others.
Cole Konrad – 2 time undefeated, NCAA individual champion at 285 lbs; current mixed martial artist and the former Bellator Heavyweight Champion
Nik Lentz, wrestler; current mixed martial artist for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (featherweight)
Brock Lesnar – Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current WWE champion.
Dustin Schlatter – 79–2 record in two seasons with the Gophers
Jacob Volkmann – 3-time all-American, former UFC fighter.
Gable Steveson - Olympic gold medalist
Athletic directors
Note: From 1974 to 2002, there were separate athletic departments for men and women's sports.