The 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Tracy Claeys and played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they defeated Washington State.
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Big Ten Conference |
West Division |
9–4 (5–4 Big Ten) |
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Jay Johnson (1st season) |
Jay Sawvel (1st season) |
Mitch Leidner, Brandon Lingen, Jack Lynn, Damarius Travis |
TCF Bank Stadium (Capacity: 50,805) |
Seasons |
2016 Big Ten Conference football standings |
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| Conf | | | Overall |
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Team | | W | | L | | | | | W | | L | |
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East Division |
No. 7 Penn State xy$ | | 8 | – | 1 | | | | | 11 | – | 3 | |
No. 6 Ohio State x^ | | 8 | – | 1 | | | | | 11 | – | 2 | |
No. 10 Michigan | | 7 | – | 2 | | | | | 10 | – | 3 | |
Indiana | | 4 | – | 5 | | | | | 6 | – | 7 | |
Maryland | | 3 | – | 6 | | | | | 6 | – | 7 | |
Michigan State | | 1 | – | 8 | | | | | 3 | – | 9 | |
Rutgers | | 0 | – | 9 | | | | | 2 | – | 10 | |
West Division |
No. 9 Wisconsin xy | | 7 | – | 2 | | | | | 11 | – | 3 | |
Iowa | | 6 | – | 3 | | | | | 8 | – | 5 | |
Nebraska | | 6 | – | 3 | | | | | 9 | – | 4 | |
Minnesota | | 5 | – | 4 | | | | | 9 | – | 4 | |
Northwestern | | 5 | – | 4 | | | | | 7 | – | 6 | |
Illinois | | 2 | – | 7 | | | | | 3 | – | 9 | |
Purdue | | 1 | – | 8 | | | | | 3 | – | 9 | |
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31 |
- ^ – College Football Playoff participant
- $ – Conference champion
- x – Division champion/co-champions
- y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll |
Minnesota faced all six West Division opponents: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The Gophers also faced East Division opponents Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers.[1] Minnesota played three non-conference games: Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference, Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference. Minnesota had one bye week during the season between their games against Indiana State and Colorado State.
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 1 | 8:00 pm | Oregon State* | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| BTN | W 30–23 | 44,582 |
September 10 | 11:00 am | Indiana State* | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| ESPNews | W 58–28 | 41,026 |
September 24 | 11:00 am | Colorado State* | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| ESPNU | W 31–24 | 44,854 |
October 1 | 2:30 pm | at Penn State | - Beaver Stadium
- University Park, PA (Governor's Victory Bell)
| BTN | L 26–29 OT | 95,332 |
October 8 | 11:00 am | Iowa | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)
| ESPN2 | L 7–14 | 49,145 |
October 15 | 11:00 am | at Maryland | - Maryland Stadium
- College Park, MD
| ESPNU | W 31–10 | 41,465 |
October 22 | 11:00 am | Rutgers | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| ESPNU | W 34–32 | 46,096 |
October 29 | 11:00 am | at Illinois | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| BTN | W 40–17 | 40,090 |
November 5 | 2:30 pm | Purdue | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| BTN | W 44–31 | 42,832 |
November 12 | 6:30 pm | at No. 21 Nebraska | - Memorial Stadium
- Lincoln, NE ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)
| BTN | L 17–24 | 90,456 |
November 19 | 2:30 pm | Northwestern | - TCF Bank Stadium
- Minneapolis, MN
| BTN | W 29–12 | 38,162 |
November 26 | 2:30 pm | at No. 5 Wisconsin | - Camp Randall Stadium
- Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)
| BTN | L 17–31 | 77,216 |
December 27 | 6:00 pm | vs. Washington State* | - Qualcomm Stadium
- San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)
| ESPN | W 17–12 | 48,704 |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Central time
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