The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion team, the team began play the following year. They are named after the Vikings of medieval Scandinavia, reflecting the prominent Scandinavian American culture of Minnesota. The team plays its home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in the Downtown East section of Minneapolis.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with three members in South Dakota, two members in North Dakota, and one member in Nebraska. It was founded in 1932. With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited.
Minnesota State University, Mankato is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is the second-oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and is commonly referred to as the flagship institution. It was established as the Second State Normal School in 1858 and officially opened as Mankato Normal School a decade later. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a significant contributor to the local and state economies, adding $827 million annually.
Robert Anthony Bruer is a former American football player and coach. He played tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings from 1977 until 1985.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
Blakeslee Stadium is a stadium located on the southern edge of the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus in Mankato, Minnesota. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Minnesota State Mavericks, an NCAA Division II football team, and also hosted the training camp for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 1966 to 2017. Built in 1962, the stadium holds 7,500 people has hosted a variety of events, including marching band performances and drum and bugle corps competitions. In 2022, the stadium hosted Hockey Day Minnesota, an annual series of outdoor hockey games sponsored by the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NFL) and Bally Sports North.
The Augustana Vikings are the athletic teams that represent Augustana University, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Vikings compete as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for all 14 varsity sports. The Vikings joined the NSIC from the North Central Conference, which folded in 2008.
The Minnesota State Mavericks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Minnesota State University, Mankato. The school's athletic program includes 21 varsity sports teams. More than 600 students participate each year in athletics for the university. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete at the Division I level, respectively in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Minnesota State began competition in the NSIC in 2008–09, due to the dissolution of the North Central Conference. It was also one of the seven WCHA men's hockey members that left that league after the 2020–21 season to reestablish the CCHA, a move that led to the demise of the men's side of the WCHA.
The St. Cloud State Huskies are the athletic teams for St. Cloud State University. The university is primarily a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), and currently sponsors 18 NCAA Division II teams. SCSU also sponsors a women's Nordic skiing team through membership in the CCSA, as well as men's and women's Division I ice hockey teams that are members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (men) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (women). The teams go by the nickname Huskies, and the school's mascot is a husky named Blizzard.
The Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey team is an NCAA Division I college ice hockey program that represents Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Mavericks compete in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). Their home arena is the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center located in downtown Mankato, Minnesota.
The Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Wisconsin–La Crosse competes at the NCAA Division III level and is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Eagles play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Wisconsin–La Crosse has won three national titles: the NAIA Division II Football National Championship in 1985 and the NCAA Division III Football Championship in 1992 and 1995, all during the tenure of Roger Harring, who served as head coach from 1969 to 1999 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Wayne State Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Wayne State College, located in Wayne, Nebraska, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in all sports since the 1999–2000 academic year. The Wildcats previously competed in the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1976–77 to 1988–89; as well as in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) as a provisional member during the 1989–90 school year.
Adrian Battles is a retired American football offensive guard. He played college football for Minnesota State University, Mankato from 2005 to 2009.
Adam John Thielen is an American football wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota State. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013, playing for them for ten seasons. Thielen holds several NFL records, including eight straight games over 100+ yards receiving, and 74 receptions in the first half of a season.
The 1998 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began on September 5, 1998, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 12, 1998, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the University of North Alabama. The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats defeated the Carson–Newman, 24–6, to win their first Division II national title.
The 1999 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began on August 28, 1999, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 11, 1999, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the University of North Alabama.
The Bethel Royals football program represents Bethel University of Arden Hills, Minnesota in college football. Bethel competes at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The head coach of the Royals is Steve Johnson, who has held the position since 1989.
Christopher Reed is an American football guard for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Minnesota State. He has also been a member of the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers.
Brandon Zylstra is a professional American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football at Concordia–Moorhead. After going undrafted in 2016, Zylstra signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also played for the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers.
Shane Zylstra is an American football tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota State.
