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Minnesota Golden Gophers

Big TenMinneapolis, MNHuntington Bank Stadium

2026: 4–⁠2 (2–⁠1 Big Ten). Last: lost at Purdue 41–⁠13. Next: Iowa, Saturday, Oct 24.

  1. W 59–⁠7Eastern Illinois
  2. L 13–⁠38Mississippi State
  3. W 41–⁠7Akron
  4. W 27–⁠24at Washington
  5. W 20–⁠14Michigan
  6. L 13–⁠41at Purdue
  7. Oct 24Iowa
  8. Oct 31at Indiana
  9. Nov 7UCLA
  10. Nov 14at Penn State
  11. Nov 21Northwestern
  12. Nov 27at Wisconsin
  • Outfitted by Nike

Minnesota has played football since 1882 and is 737–⁠546–⁠42 in the 1,325 games on record here, which start in 1892. Minnesota claims seven national championships (1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960). The Golden Gophers have finished No. 1 in the final AP poll four times, most recently in 1960. They have won 18 Big Ten Conference titles (the last in 1967) and two Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest titles, counting shared titles. Bruce Smith won the Heisman Trophy here in 1941. Since 1936, the NFL Draft has taken 149 players from here in its first seven rounds, 18 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took six players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 20 players and 4 coaches from Minnesota. Henry Williams (1900–⁠1921) won more games here than any other coach: 136. The most-played rival is Wisconsin: 135 meetings, Minnesota leads 64–⁠63–⁠8. This season, under P.J. Fleck, they’re 4–⁠2.

Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis
Huntington Bank StadiumPhoto: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 1963Minnesota lost to No. 7 Illinois 16–⁠6 on the road.

Résumé

All-time record
738–⁠539–⁠44 official; 737–⁠546–⁠42 on file; how we count
Postseason
14–⁠12 matches the official bowl record
AP No. 1 finishes
4
Weeks at No. 1
14 of 159 ranked
Elo now
1529 70th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 47 · Composite No. 50 in FBS, Oct 17. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1904 rated 1772
Conference titles
20 last in 1967
Seasons
135 since 1892, 1,325 games

Identity

Fight song
Minnesota Rouser
Student section
Ski-U-Crew
Apparel
Nike
Band
University of Minnesota Marching Band since 1892, 320 members

2026 season 4–⁠2

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsEastern IllinoisW 59–⁠790%
Sep 12vsMississippi StateL 13–⁠3870%
Sep 19vsAkronW 41–⁠771%
Sep 26atWashingtonW 27–⁠2428%
Oct 3vsMichiganW 20–⁠1447%
Oct 10atPurdueL 13–⁠4165%
Oct 24vsIowaPreview38%
Oct 31atIndianaPreview15%
Nov 7vsUCLAPreview47%
Nov 14atPenn StatePreview36%
Nov 21vsNorthwesternPreview47%
Nov 27atWisconsinPreview41%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Minnesota’s Elo through 2026: 1555 going into the opener, 1529 after the latest game.1500152515501575Elo 1555 going in; beat Eastern Illinois 59–7Elo 1562 going in; lost to Mississippi State 38–13Elo 1513 going in; beat Akron 41–7Elo 1533 going in; beat Washington 27–24Elo 1554 going in; beat Michigan 20–14Elo 1575 going in; lost to Purdue 41–13Now: Elo 1529 after the latest game1529
Eastern IllinoisMississippi StateAkronWashingtonMichiganPurdueNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

Future schedule

2027–⁠33
20273 games: 2 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20283 games: 3 home, non-conference only
20301 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20321 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20331 game: 1 away, non-conference only

Minnesota’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of May 15, 2025). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookThe money

On the 2026 team

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Minnesota.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Nike · Official source
Mascot
Goldy Gopher · Official source
Student section
Ski-U-Crew · Official source
Athletic director
Mark Coyle · Official source
Offensive coordinator
Greg Harbaugh Jr. · Official source
Defensive coordinator
Danny Collins · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Nike. Minnesota football moved to new Nike jerseys in 2024. The deal's term hasn't been published.

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1892

Best seasons ever
Minnesota end-of-season Elo from 1892 to 2026, best in 1904 at 1772.130015001700190019001920194019601980200020201904 peak: Elo 1772
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team. Filled dots: finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
P.J. Fleck2017–⁠202670–⁠46
Tracy Claeys2015–⁠201611–⁠8
Jerry Kill2011–⁠201529–⁠29
Jeff Horton20102–⁠3
Tim Brewster2007–⁠201015–⁠30
Glen Mason1997–⁠200664–⁠57
Jim Wacker1992–⁠199616–⁠39
John Gutekunst1985–⁠199129–⁠37–⁠2
Lou Holtz1984–⁠198510–⁠12
Joe Salem1979–⁠198319–⁠35–⁠1
Cal Stoll1972–⁠197839–⁠39
Murray Warmath1954–⁠197187–⁠78–⁠7
Wesley Fesler1951–⁠195310–⁠13–⁠4
Bernie Bierman1932–⁠195093–⁠35–⁠6
George Hauser1942–⁠194415–⁠11–⁠1
Fritz Crisler1930–⁠193110–⁠7–⁠1
Clarence Spears1925–⁠192928–⁠9–⁠3
William Spaulding1922–⁠192411–⁠7–⁠4
Henry Williams1900–⁠1921136–⁠33–⁠11
John Harrison18996–⁠3–⁠2 shared
William Leary18996–⁠3–⁠2 shared
Jack Minds18984–⁠5
Alexander Jerrems1896–⁠189712–⁠6
Pudge Heffelfinger18957–⁠3
Tom Cochrane18943–⁠1
Wallie Winter18936–⁠0

“Shared”: co-coaches, each credited with that season’s whole record, so those seasons count once in the team total.

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesMINN record
Wisconsin13564–⁠63–⁠8 ‡
Iowa11963–⁠54–⁠2 ‡
Michigan10726–⁠78–⁠3
Northwestern9956–⁠38–⁠5
Purdue8142–⁠36–⁠3
Illinois7741–⁠33–⁠3
Indiana6940–⁠26–⁠3
Nebraska6538–⁠25–⁠2

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State.

Trophies it holds: Little Brown Jug (Michigan, since 2026), $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy (Nebraska, since 2019), Paul Bunyan’s Axe (Wisconsin, since 2024). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.

Every opponent (144)

Every program Minnesota has played, A to Z, with Minnesota’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

20, counting shared titles
Big Ten Conference 18
1900 (shared), 1903 (shared), 1904 (shared), 1906 (shared), 1909, 1910 (shared), 1911, 1915 (shared), 1927 (shared), 1933 (shared), 1934, 1935 (shared), 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1960 (shared), 1967 (shared)
Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest 2
1892, 1893
Big Ten West 1
2019 (tied)

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1882–⁠1891
  2. Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest 1892–⁠1893
  3. Independent 1894–⁠1895
  4. Western Conference 1896–⁠1952
  5. Big Ten since 1953

Minnesota’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).

National award winners

All awards
2006Matt Spaeth TEMackey
2005Greg Eslinger COutland, Rimington
1999Tyrone Carter SThorpe
1962Bobby Bell OTOutland
1960Tom Brown OGOutland
1960Murray Warmath coachEddie Robinson
1941Bruce Smith RBHeisman

Consensus All-Americans 35

2019Antoine Winfield Jr. DB
2005Greg Eslinger C
2000Ben Hamilton C
1999Ben Hamilton C
1999Tyrone Carter S
1965Aaron Brown DE
1963Carl Eller OT
1962Bobby Bell OT
1961Sandy Stephens QB/DB
1960Tom Brown OG
1953Paul Giel RB
1949Clayton Tonnemaker C/LB
1949Leo Nomellini OT
1948Leo Nomellini OT
1942Dick Wildung OT
1941Bruce Smith RB
1941Dick Wildung OT
1940George Franck RB
1940Urban Odson OT
1936Ed Widseth OT
1935Ed Widseth OT
1934Bill Bevan OG
1934Frank Larson E
1934Pug Lund RB
1931Biggie Munn OG
1929Bronko Nagurski FB
1927Herb Joesting FB
1926Herb Joesting FB
1923Ray Eklund E
1917George Hauser OT
1916Bert Baston E
1915Bert Baston E
1910James Walker OT
1909John McGovern QB
1903Fred Schacht OT

Led the nation 3

2022Mohamed Ibrahim rushing touchdowns (20 TD)
1953Paul Giel punt return yards (288 yds)
1944Wayne Williams rushing yards (911 yds)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

Heisman runners-up and finalists

The votes
1962Bobby Bell OT3rd
1961Sandy Stephens QB4th
1960Tom Brown OG2nd
1953Paul Giel RB2nd
1952Paul Giel RB3rd
1940George Franck RB3rd

Second to fifth in the vote, from each season’s Wikipedia article.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
20
Coaches
4
2025Greg Eslinger C
2020Bob Stein LB
2011Sandy Stephens QB/DB
2008Lou Holtz coach here, 1984–⁠1985
2006Carl Eller OT
2003Tom Brown OG
2002George Franck RB
1991Bobby Bell OT
1980Clayton Tonnemaker C/LB
1977Leo Nomellini OT
1975Paul Giel RB
1972Bruce Smith RB
1971Bobby Marshall E
1968Eddie Rogers E
1966John McGovern QB
1958Pug Lund RB
1957Dick Wildung OT
1955Bernie Bierman coach here, 1932–⁠1950
1954Bert Baston E
1954Ed Widseth OT
1954Fritz Crisler coach here, 1930–⁠1931
1954Herb Joesting FB
1951Bronko Nagurski FB
1951Henry L. Williams coach here, 1900–⁠1921

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
149 since 1936
First-round picks
18
AAFC and AFL picks
6 1947, 1961–⁠64
2021Rashod Bateman WRNo. 27, Baltimore Ravens
2006Laurence Maroney RBNo. 21, New England Patriots
2001Willie Middlebrooks DBNo. 24, Denver Broncos
1990Darrell Thompson RBNo. 19, Green Bay Packers
1989Brian Williams CNo. 18, New York Giants
1968John Williams OTNo. 23, Baltimore Colts
1966Gale Gillingham OGNo. 13, Green Bay Packers
1964Carl Eller DENo. 6, Minnesota Vikings

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Enrollment
56,666 41,303 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Public or private
Public Research 1
Founded
1851
Graduates’ median earnings
$69,020 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @GopherFootballInstagram @gopherfootballFacebook GopherFootball
Athletics department
X @GophersportsInstagram @gophersportsFacebook GopherAthletics

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones gophersports.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

Old photographs

From libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives and credited to it. The records don’t give these a season; those they date are on their seasons’ pages.

On the newsreel

And 21 more

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Films and books

On film

In books

Films: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia’s lists and categories (CC BY-SA), about the program, its seasons, games and rivalries. Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions

Shaded: national title seasons, No. 1 in the final AP poll or claimed by Minnesota (7 claimed).

SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20264–⁠22–⁠1P.J. Fleck15292.9
20258–⁠55–⁠4P.J. Fleck15831.5
20248–⁠55–⁠4P.J. Fleck161810.4
20236–⁠73–⁠6P.J. Fleck15230.4
20229–⁠45–⁠4P.J. Fleck163316.0
20219–⁠46–⁠3P.J. Fleck164114.4
20203–⁠43–⁠419P.J. Fleck15734.7
201911–⁠27–⁠210P.J. Fleck167219.4
20187–⁠63–⁠6P.J. Fleck15646.3
20175–⁠72–⁠7P.J. Fleck15080.4
20169–⁠45–⁠4Tracy Claeys160712.6
20156–⁠72–⁠6Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys15248.1
20148–⁠55–⁠3Jerry Kill15826.8
20138–⁠54–⁠4Jerry Kill15302.5
20126–⁠72–⁠6Jerry Kill1434-0.9
20113–⁠92–⁠6Jerry Kill1381-3.8
20103–⁠92–⁠6Tim Brewster, Jeff Horton1428-10.4
20096–⁠73–⁠5Tim Brewster14860.3
20087–⁠63–⁠5Tim Brewster14383.0
20071–⁠110–⁠8Tim Brewster1378-7.6
20066–⁠73–⁠5Glen Mason15553.8
20057–⁠54–⁠4Glen Mason157015.9
20047–⁠53–⁠525Glen Mason156110.7
200310–⁠35–⁠320Glen Mason161012.7
20028–⁠53–⁠5Glen Mason15417.3
Every season back to 1892 (110 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20014–⁠72–⁠6Glen Mason14880.3
20006–⁠64–⁠4Glen Mason15301.4
19998–⁠45–⁠318Glen Mason156916.8
19985–⁠62–⁠6Glen Mason14566.2
19973–⁠91–⁠7Glen Mason1383-7.6
19964–⁠71–⁠7Jim Wacker1387-1.6
19953–⁠81–⁠7Jim Wacker13720.8
19943–⁠81–⁠7Jim Wacker13833.2
19934–⁠73–⁠5Jim Wacker1386-6.3
19922–⁠92–⁠6Jim Wacker1372-8.7
19912–⁠91–⁠7John Gutekunst1392-10.6
19906–⁠55–⁠3John Gutekunst1520-2.1
19896–⁠54–⁠4John Gutekunst1489-0.9
19882–⁠7–⁠20–⁠6–⁠2John Gutekunst1394-12.6
19876–⁠53–⁠5John Gutekunst1495-2.9
19866–⁠65–⁠3John Gutekunst15206.2
19857–⁠54–⁠4Lou Holtz, John Gutekunst150911.4
19844–⁠73–⁠6Lou Holtz1360-12.8
19831–⁠100–⁠9Joe Salem1271-22.2
19823–⁠81–⁠8Joe Salem1358-10.0
19816–⁠54–⁠5Joe Salem1466-5.2
19805–⁠64–⁠5Joe Salem1447-0.7
19794–⁠6–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1Joe Salem14537.4
19785–⁠64–⁠4Cal Stoll1441-14.6
19777–⁠54–⁠4Cal Stoll15125.4
19766–⁠54–⁠4Cal Stoll14771.4
19756–⁠53–⁠5Cal Stoll1495-1.1
19744–⁠72–⁠6Cal Stoll1409-17.5
19737–⁠46–⁠2Cal Stoll15295.6
19724–⁠74–⁠4Cal Stoll1442-3.2
19714–⁠73–⁠5Murray Warmath1421-1.4
19703–⁠6–⁠12–⁠4–⁠1Murray Warmath1462-1.0
19694–⁠5–⁠14–⁠319Murray Warmath1517
19686–⁠45–⁠215Murray Warmath1585
19678–⁠26–⁠1Murray Warmath1612
19664–⁠5–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Murray Warmath1514
19655–⁠4–⁠15–⁠2Murray Warmath1544
19645–⁠44–⁠3Murray Warmath1533
19633–⁠62–⁠5Murray Warmath1525
19626–⁠2–⁠15–⁠210Murray Warmath1680
19618–⁠26–⁠16Murray Warmath1693
19608–⁠26–⁠11Murray Warmath1597
19592–⁠71–⁠6Murray Warmath1402
19581–⁠81–⁠6Murray Warmath1433
19574–⁠53–⁠54Murray Warmath1512
19566–⁠1–⁠24–⁠1–⁠212Murray Warmath1593
19553–⁠62–⁠5Murray Warmath1515
19547–⁠24–⁠2Murray Warmath1588
19534–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Wesley Fesler1531
19524–⁠3–⁠23–⁠1–⁠2Wesley Fesler1490
19512–⁠6–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1Wesley Fesler1423
19501–⁠7–⁠11–⁠4–⁠118Bernie Bierman1458
19497–⁠24–⁠258Bernie Bierman1679
19487–⁠25–⁠2816Bernie Bierman1641
19476–⁠33–⁠317Bernie Bierman1561
19465–⁠43–⁠4Bernie Bierman1507
19454–⁠51–⁠55Bernie Bierman1477
19445–⁠3–⁠13–⁠2–⁠1George Hauser1555
19435–⁠42–⁠39George Hauser1528
19425–⁠43–⁠31419George Hauser1618
19418–⁠05–⁠011Bernie Bierman1734
19408–⁠06–⁠071Bernie Bierman1674
19393–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠1Bernie Bierman1590
19386–⁠24–⁠1210Bernie Bierman1677
19376–⁠25–⁠045Bernie Bierman1691
19367–⁠14–⁠111Bernie Bierman1725
19358–⁠05–⁠0Bernie Bierman1749
19348–⁠05–⁠0Bernie Bierman1717
19334–⁠0–⁠42–⁠0–⁠4Bernie Bierman1589
19325–⁠32–⁠3Bernie Bierman1562
19317–⁠33–⁠2Fritz Crisler1570
19303–⁠4–⁠11–⁠3Fritz Crisler1506
19296–⁠23–⁠2Clarence Spears1642
19286–⁠24–⁠2Clarence Spears1661
19276–⁠0–⁠23–⁠0–⁠1Clarence Spears1644
19265–⁠32–⁠2Clarence Spears1571
19255–⁠2–⁠11–⁠1–⁠1Clarence Spears1538
19243–⁠3–⁠21–⁠2–⁠1William Spaulding1505
19235–⁠1–⁠12–⁠1–⁠1William Spaulding1534
19223–⁠3–⁠12–⁠3–⁠1William Spaulding1464
19213–⁠42–⁠4Henry Williams1424
19201–⁠60–⁠6Henry Williams1441
19194–⁠2–⁠13–⁠2Henry Williams1598
19185–⁠2–⁠12–⁠1Henry Williams1565
19174–⁠13–⁠1Henry Williams1680
19166–⁠13–⁠1Henry Williams1685
19156–⁠0–⁠13–⁠0–⁠1Henry Williams1687
19146–⁠13–⁠1Henry Williams1634
19135–⁠22–⁠1Henry Williams1621
19124–⁠32–⁠2Henry Williams1597
19116–⁠0–⁠13–⁠0–⁠1Henry Williams1704
19106–⁠12–⁠0Henry Williams1668
19096–⁠13–⁠0Henry Williams1654
19083–⁠2–⁠10–⁠2Henry Williams1577
19072–⁠2–⁠10–⁠1–⁠1Henry Williams1613
19064–⁠12–⁠0Henry Williams1676
190510–⁠12–⁠1Henry Williams1742
190413–⁠03–⁠0Henry Williams1772
190314–⁠0–⁠13–⁠0–⁠1Henry Williams1741
19029–⁠2–⁠13–⁠1Henry Williams1681
19019–⁠1–⁠13–⁠1Henry Williams1658
190010–⁠0–⁠23–⁠0–⁠1Henry Williams1604
18996–⁠3–⁠20–⁠3John Harrison, William Leary1430
18984–⁠51–⁠2Jack Minds1419
18974–⁠40–⁠3Alexander Jerrems1486
18968–⁠21–⁠2Alexander Jerrems1595
18957–⁠3Pudge Heffelfinger1558
1894few games on file3–⁠1Tom Cochrane1593
18936–⁠03–⁠0Wallie Winter1625
18925–⁠03–⁠01570

Officially 738–⁠539–⁠44 since 1882 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 737–⁠546–⁠42 (−1 win, +7 losses, −2 ties). Our file starts in 1892; the program began in 1882.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.