The second straight Big Ten school to be named, the Minnesota Golden Gophers aren’t considered one of the current powerhouses in the conference although they do consistently put up eight-plus wins.
However, they haven’t had much success when it comes to winning the Big Ten since the 1960. In fact, Minnesota hasn’t won the conference since 1967 and that’s the last time this program was considered a legitimate power. The Golden Gophers won 18 Big Ten titles from 1900-67 as they were one of the dominant forces of early college football.
Moreover, they’ve won seven national titles in school history with Bernie Bierman winning five of them from 1934-41. He led Minnesota’s golden era of football and the program has struggled to see that type of success ever since.
Bruce “Boo” Smith won the school’s only Heisman Trophy back in 1941 during the golden era and his No. 54 jersey has since been retired.
Show off your Golden Gophers pride with this t-shirt.
Other notable alumni are Tony Dungy, who played quarterback for the Gophers before becoming a Super Bowl-winning coach, Charlie Sanders, Bronco Nagurski and Eric Decker. Minnesota has had 17 players selected in the first round of NFL drafts and it has also had 33 consensus All-Americans.
A bowl record of 6-12 is not the program’s greatest achievement, however.