Most of the facilities that the teams use for training and competitive play are located on the East Bank of the Minneapolis campus.

The Gopher football team began playing at Huntington Bank Stadium in September 2009.

The women's soccer team plays on the St. Paul campus in the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

The Cheerleaders and the Dance Team are also part of the university's athletic department; they are present at events for basketball, ice hockey, and football, and compete for UCA/UDA national titles in the winter.

The state nickname derives from a political cartoon by R. O. Sweeny, published as a broadside in 1858.

[13] The nickname was associated with the university as early as the publication of the first yearbook in 1888, which was titled "The Gopher".