Minnesota Golden Gophers


The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 23 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 as well as ice hockey. The Gopher football team began playing at TCF Bank Stadium in September 2009. The women's soccer team plays on the St. Paul campus in 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 currently 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, a dance team, Goldy Gopher, and a unique ice hockey cheerleading team. The dance team just won its 19th national title.
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

Note: A 1997 Big Ten regular season championship, NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1999, as well as NIT appearances in 1996 and 1998 were vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

Women's basketball

Men's golf
Women's golf
Men's gymnastics
Women's gymnastics
Dance Team
Men's swimming
Women's swimming
Outdoor track and field
Indoor track and field
Outdoor track and field
Indoor track and field

Rugby

Minnesota rugby plays Division I college rugby in the Big Ten Universities conference against traditional Big 10 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

s 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

Men's

Players

Men's

Women's

Wrestling

Current facilities