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.
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. It is along a large bend of the Minnesota River at its confluence with the Blue Earth River. Mankato is across the Minnesota River from North Mankato. Mankato and North Mankato have a combined population of 58,763 according to the 2020 census. It completely encompasses the town of Skyline. North of Mankato Regional Airport, a tiny non-contiguous part of the city lies within Le Sueur County. Most of the city is in Blue Earth County.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system or Minnesota State, previously branded as MnSCU, comprises 26 state colleges and 7 state universities with 54 campuses throughout Minnesota. The system is the largest higher education system in Minnesota and the third largest in the United States, educating more than 300,000 students annually. It is governed by a 15-member board of trustees appointed by the governor, which has broad authority to run the system. The Minnesota State system office is located in the Wells Fargo Place building in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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.
Coach is an American television sitcom that originally ran for nine seasons on ABC from February 28, 1989, to May 14, 1997, with a total of 200 half-hour episodes. The series, created by Barry Kemp, stars Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional NCAA Division I-A Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles football team. For the last two seasons, Coach Fox and the supporting characters coached the Orlando Breakers, a fictional National Football League expansion team. The program also starred Jerry Van Dyke as Luther Van Dam and Bill Fagerbakke as Michael "Dauber" Dybinski, assistant coaches under Fox. The role of Hayden's girlfriend Christine Armstrong, a television news anchor, was played by Shelley Fabares.
The Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center is a 5,280-seat multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota, built in 1994 and opened in early 1995. It is home to the Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey team and women's ice hockey team, and also hosts musical performances, conventions and other events. Prior to its construction, the team played their home games at All Seasons Arena.
The University of Minnesota Marching Band is the marching band of the University of Minnesota and the flagship university band for the state of Minnesota. The Pride of Minnesota serves as an ambassador for the university, representing the school at major events both on and off campus. The band performs before, during, and after all home Golden Gopher football games and bowl games, occasional away games, local parades, numerous pepfests, exhibition performances, as well as a series of indoor concerts toward the end of the regular football season. Members of the band, along with non-member students, also participate in smaller athletic pep bands that perform at other major sporting events, including men's hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey, women's basketball, and women's volleyball.
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 (NHL) and Bally Sports North.
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 Minnesota State Mavericks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Minnesota State University, Mankato located in the U.S. state of Minnesota.
The MSU Mankato women’s ice hockey program attempted to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Ultimately failing, winning only seven games.
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.
Adrian Battles is a retired American football offensive guard. He played college football for Minnesota State University, Mankato from 2005 to 2009.
Mankato West High School is a public secondary school located in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. According to the school district in 2016, Mankato West enrolls about 1150 students in four grades, grades 9–12. In 1992–93 the school was designated as a "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence" by the United States Department of Education.
Todd Hoffner is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Minnesota State University, Mankato, a position he held from 2008 to 2011 and resumed in 2014. Hoffner was the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1999 to 2005. He was an assistant football coach at University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point from 1991 to 1998 and served as the offensive coordinator at the University of South Dakota from 2006 to 2007. Hoffner played college football and ran track at Valley City State University, from which he graduated in 1989. He is a native of Esmond, North Dakota.
The Minnesota State University campus currently contains 30 buildings spread over 303 acres (123 ha) in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. The campus includes on campus housing in the form of dorms for 2,700 residents, academic buildings, a main library, a music library, two astronomy observatories, experimental research stations for alternative and renewable energy, a recreation center, an athletics complex, a student center, an administration center and over 50 acres of athletics fields including the football team Blakeslee Stadium. The Minnesota State Mavericks men's and women's hockey teams also utilize and have administrative space at the Verizon Wireless Center and the All Seasons Arena located off campus.
The Minnesota State Rouser, also known as The Maverick Rouser is the fight song of the Minnesota State University, Mankato. It is played at all Minnesota State Mavericks athletics games, rallies and at many alumni events. The Maverick Machine, the Minnesota State University Marching Band, plays the rouser along with other popular songs and the song of the university, the Minnesota State University Hymn.
Stomper the Maverick is the mascot for the Minnesota State Mavericks athletics teams of the Minnesota State University, Mankato and the associated club teams and charities. During the year, Stomper makes over 250 appearances and is at virtually all home games for University teams as well as regional and charity fund raisers.
The Mankato Marathon is an annual marathon race in Mankato, Minnesota, United States, that was first run in 2010. The race weekend now brings nearly 5,000 runners to the city for several races: the marathon, a marathon four-person relay, a half marathon, a 10K run, a 5K run, children's runs. The race course is certified by the USATF, making it a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.
Brayden Thomas is a professional American football linebacker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the University of Mary, Minnesota State, and North Dakota State.
