Minnesota Golden Gophers football The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history . They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference . The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646 – 481 – 44 as of November 26th , 2011 . Since 2009 , the Gophers have played all their home games at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis , Minnesota . History . The Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team played its first game on September 29 , 1882 , a 4 – 0 victory over Hamline University . Eight years later in 1890 , the Gophers played host to Wisconsin in a 63 – 0 victory . With the exception of 1906 , the Gophers and Badgers have played each other every year since then . The 117 games played against each other is the most played rivalry in Division I - A college football . Glory years . The Gophers enjoyed quite a bit of success in the early 20th century , posting winning records from 1900 - 1919 . Head coach Henry L . Williams developed the " Minnesota shift " , a predecessor to later quick line shifts , which was adopted widely . In 1932 , Bernie Bierman became the Gopher head coach and led the Gophers to their first dynasty . From 1934 - 1936 the Gophers went on a run of winning three straight National Championships , the last Division I team to accomplish this feat . During the run , Minnesota went unbeaten in 28 straight games , a school record , 21 of which were consecutive victories . The school record for consecutive victories is 24 , which spanned 3 seasons from 1903 to 1905 . The Gophers also won two more national championships in 1940 and 1941 . Those two seasons comprised most of an 18 game winning streak that stretched from 1939 to 1942 . After some mediocre seasons throughout the remainder of the 1940s and 1950s , the Gophers rose back to prominence in 1960 with their sixth national championship ( because polling ended after the regular season , the Gophers were crowned AP and UPI national champions despite losing the Rose Bowl to Washington ) . That national championship followed a 1 - 8 record in 1958 and 2 - 7 record in 1959 . Minnesota played in bowl games the two following years as well , in 1961 and 1962 . The Gophers earned their first berth in the Rose Bowl by winning the 1960 Big Ten title . The following year , Minnesota returned to Pasadena despite a second - place finish in the conference . The Ohio State Buckeyes , the Big Ten champions in 1961 , declined an invitation to the Rose Bowl because of tension between academics and athletics at the school . Minnesota beat UCLA 21 - 3 to claim its first and only Rose Bowl victory . This game also marked the Gophers last appearance in a New Year ' s Day bowl game . Minnesota ' s last Big Ten title was in 1967 , tying the Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers atop the standings . Recent history . After their 8 – 2 record in 1967 , the Gophers would not win 8 games in a season again until they went 8 – 4 in 1999 . Their 10 – 3 record in 2003 gave the Gophers their first 10 win season since 1905 . The 2006 team had the dubious distinction of blowing a 38 – 7 third - quarter lead in the Insight Bowl against Texas Tech , losing 44 - 41 in overtime . The collapse , which was the biggest in the history of Division I - A postseason football , directly led to the firing of head coach Glen Mason . On January 17 , 2007 , Tim Brewster was officially announced as the next head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers . In 1981 , the Gophers played their last game in Memorial Stadium and played their home games in the Hubert H . Humphrey Metrodome until 2008 . The Gophers moved back to campus with a 20 - 13 win against Air Force on September 12 , 2009 , when their new home , TCF Bank Stadium , opened . In 2010 , after a 1 - 6 record to start the season , the Gophers football head coach Tim Brewster was fired . Jeff Horton served as the interim head coach going 2 - 3 . On December 6th , 2010 , Jerry Kill , former Northern Illinois University head coach was hired to take over the University of Minnesota football program . Championships . National championships . " Note : The NCAA itself does not award a championship for Division I - A football . A number of different organizations and publications designate a national champion . " Big Ten Conference championships . " Note : bold years indicate outright conference titles " Facilities . TCF Bank Stadium . TCF Bank Stadium is the football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis , Minnesota . The 50 , 805 - seat on - campus " horseshoe " style stadium is designed to support future expansion to seat up to 80 , 000 people , and cost $ 288 . 5 million to build . Gibson - Nagurski Football Complex . The complex is a state - of - the - art facility housing the team administrative offices , team locker room , team meeting rooms , equipment room , training room , and players ’ lounges . All - time records . Bowl games . " Note : From 1918 - 1945 , the Big Ten did not allow its teams to participate in bowls . From 1946 - 1974 , only the conference champion was allowed to attend a bowl .