The Minnesota Golden Gophers have a rich college football history going back to their humble beginnings in the year 1882.  That team faced Hamline and won big.  Speaking of, the Big Ten conference was curiously named The Western Conference.  Perhaps that was because the United States were still a young country, with territories to the west of the state of Minnesota. 

How many national championships have the Golden Gophers won?  Six.  When was the last time that Minnesota won the National Championship?  1960. 

Fast forward to the 1990's and the list of high profile Gopher players includes Tyrone Carter, Patt Evans, Sean Lumpkin, Chris Thome, and Lamanzer Williams.  The 1990 season was successful, as John Gutekunst led the team to a winning season.  The next season was a disappointment, with the Gophers ending 2-9.  Out went Gutekunst, and in came Jim Wacker.  Wacker coached the team for four seasons.  Sadly, the team did not manage to compile a winning season in that period.

Glen Mason coached the Golden Gophers from 1997 through 2006.  His Big Ten record was 64-57.  He led the team to The Sun Bowl, Micron PC Bowl, Music City Bowl three times, and Insight Bowl.  Tim Brewster coached the Gophers in 2007, and once again, they made the trip to the Insight Bowl and lost 42-21.

For 2009, the team wound up with a 6-6 record.  They defeated Syracuse, Air Force, Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State, and South Dakota State. The Gophers lost to California, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois, and Iowa.