The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Ten Conference.
Paul Robert Giel was an American college football and professional baseball player from Winona, Minnesota. He was an All-American in both sports at the University of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its inception in 1896 as the Western Conference. The Golden Gophers claim seven national championships: 1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960. Since 2009, the Golden Gophers have played all their home games at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's coach was Glen Mason. It played its home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Minnesota.
The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 10–3 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 503 to 285. The team made an appearance in the Sun Bowl. The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was ranked 17th in the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll and 20th in the final Associated Press poll. This was the most recent season in which Minnesota defeated the Wisconsin Badgers and received Paul Bunyan's Axe until 2018.
The 2001 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 4–7 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 308 to 299. The 2001 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was not ranked in either the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll or Associated Press poll.
The 2000 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–6 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 375 to 318. The team made an appearance in the MicronPC.com Bowl, but was not ranked in either the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll or Associated Press poll.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. They are members of the Big Ten Conference and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ice hockey. The Golden Gophers have won five NCAA national championships, in 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. The team also shared the 1929 National Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship with Yale. and captured the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship for amateur hockey in 1940. The Gophers are currently coached by Bob Motzko. Under Don Lucia the Gophers earned a spot in the NCAA tournament in eight seasons during a nine-year time span, including five number 1 seeds and three appearances in the Frozen Four. The team's main rivalries are with the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Dakota, although several other schools claim Minnesota as their archrival. For much of the team's history, there has been a strong emphasis on recruiting native Minnesotan high school and junior hockey players, as opposed to out-of-state, Canadian, or European players. This helped high school ice hockey grow in Minnesota, particularly starting with Hall of Famer John Mariucci, who refused to recruit players from Canada. Minnesota high school ice hockey programs grew from 26 in 1945 to over 150 in 1980. Head coach Doug Woog championed home-grown talent even more, only recruiting Minnesota players in the late 1980s and 1990s, but recent rosters have been more diversified.
The 1999 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled an 8–4 record, outscored their opponents by a combined total of 368 to 196, tied for fourth place in the Big Ten Conference, and were ranked #17 and #18 in the final Coaches and AP polls.
The Minnesota–Wisconsin football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers. It is the most-played rivalry in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, with 132 meetings between the two teams. The winner of the game receives Paul Bunyan's Axe, a tradition that started in 1948 after the first trophy, the Slab of Bacon, disappeared after the 1943 game when the Badgers were supposed to turn it over to the Golden Gophers. Minnesota and Wisconsin first played in 1890 and have met every year since, except for 1906. The series is tied 62–62–8 through 2022. Wisconsin took the series lead for the first time after defeating Minnesota 31–0 in the 2017 game; Minnesota had led the overall series since 1902, at times by as many as 20 games.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. The Golden Gophers competes in the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at the Williams Arena.
The 1904 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1904 Western Conference football season. In their fifth year under head coach Henry L. Williams, the Golden Gophers compiled a 13–0 record. The 1904 Minnesota team has been recognized as a college football national champion by the Billingsley Report.
The 1911 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Minnesota in the Western Conference during the 1911 college football season. In their 12th year under head coach Henry L. Williams, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–0–1 record, won the conference championship for the third consecutive year, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 102 to 15. The team has been recognized retroactively as the national champion by the Billingsley Report.
The 1915 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1915 college football season. In their 16th year under head coach Henry L. Williams, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–0–1 record, tied for the conference championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 191 to 35. The only setback was a tie with Illinois with whom the Gophers shared the conference championship. The team was retroactively selected as the national champion for 1915 by the Billingsley Report.
The 1960 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference during the 1960 NCAA University Division football season. In their seventh year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled an 8–2 record and outscored their opponents 228 to 88.
Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball is the NCAA Division I women's volleyball team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The program began its first season in 1972 under head coach Dee Jilek. Its current head coach is Keegan Cook, who took over the team at the conclusion of the 2022 season, following the resignation of Hugh McCutcheon. Previous coach Mike Hebert had led the Golden Gophers to every NCAA Tournament, with the exception of 1998, when he was head coach of the team. His tenure was highlighted by back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 2003 and 2004. Hebert also led Minnesota the program's first Big Ten title in 2002.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Division I. The Golden Gophers have won six NCAA Championships as well as the final American Women's College Hockey Alliance Championship. In the WCHA, they have also been regular season champions 11 times and tournament champions 7 times. In addition to their overall success as a competitive team, the Gophers have also been ranked in the nation's top two teams for attendance since becoming a varsity sport, and the team holds the second largest single-game attendance record for women's collegiate hockey, drawing 6,854 fans for the first Minnesota women's hockey game on November 2, 1997. The team also holds the distinction of having the longest winning streak in women's or men's college hockey at 62 games from February 17, 2012 to November 17, 2013, winning back-to-back NCAA titles during the stretch.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program represented the University of Minnesota during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season. Their senior class featured Bethany Brausen, Sarah Davis, Baylee Gillanders and Kelly Terry, compiling a record of 139-17-5. Hannah Brandt, Rachel Bona and Sarah Davis would each reach the 100 point career mark. The Golden Gophers logged the best attendance in NCAA women’s hockey with 84,672 fans while setting an NCAA women’s hockey record with a power play of 32.7 percent. In addition, the Golden Gophers would qualify for the NCAA tournament for the tenth time in program history. In the postseason, the Golden Gophers were defeated 2-1 in overtime by the RIT Tigers during the WCHA championship tournament. In the quarterfinals, the Golden Gophers defeated Cornell by a 3–2 mark on home ice. Advancing to the Frozen Four championship game in Hamden, Connecticut, the Golden Gophers were bested by the Clarkson Golden Knights.
The 2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Gophers played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by third-year head coach P. J. Fleck.
The 2001–02 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season was the 81st season of play for the program. They represent the University of Minnesota in the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 43rd season in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). The Golden Gophers were coached by Don Lucia, in his 3rd season, and played their home games at the Mariucci Arena.
