City: Minneapolis, MN

Category: Spectator Sports

Telephone: (612) 624-8080 or (800) U-GOPH

Description: The Twin Cities are a great place to be if you’re a basketball fan. The area boasts both men’s and women’s professional teams as well as the collegiate Big Ten men’s and women’s teams, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.Since the 1895–96 season the Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team has played in one of the most august and competitive conferences in collegiate sports, the Big Ten. Current and former NBA stars, such as Joel Przybilla, Mychal Thompson, and Kevin McHale, wore the Gophers’ maroon and gold. Today coach Tubby Smith, lured north from the fabled University of Kentucky program, brings new hope to the Golden Gophers.The Gophers play at Williams Arena, a great place to watch basketball. It is a beautifully renovated brick building that feels comfortable yet electric because of the U of M students and alumni who attend games at “the barn.”You may purchase Gophers tickets by phone, online, or in person at Williams Arena. There is plenty of parking for Gophers basketball in lots on Oak Street Southeast and Fifth Street Southeast—but the U of M campus is among the diciest parking spots in the Twin Cities, so be sure to leave plenty of time to get to the game.