Minnesota Golden Gophers: Weekend Preview and How to Watch

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It’s now officially 2026 and the Holidays are gone and behind us. Finals are over, the transfer portal for football is open, and the rest of the winter Minnesota Golden Gophers teams are back to work and ready for the final run over the o few months to the postseason. We also have the debut of some of the inter sports this weekend with the Gopher gymnastics team kicking off their season with a huge ranked battle in Utah. Below is the schedule for the weekend and how you can check out all the action!

Friday January 2nd:

#3 Women’s Hockey @ Sacred Heart 4 PM ESPN+

The Gopher women’s hockey team heads out east to Connecticut for their final non-conference series of the season to face Sacred Heart. Minnesota will look to extend a streak under Brad Frost where they have never lost their first game in the new year going 17-0-1.

Minnesota enters the 2026 portion of the schedule ranked #3 in the nation after a 14-4 start to the year. They are 10-04 in WCHA play and sit in third place behind Wisconsin and Ohio State. Sacred Heart enters the series with a 5-12-1 overall record and a 4-9-1 mark in NEWHA play, currently sitting seventh in the conference standings. It will be the Gophers first ever meeting with a team from the NEWHA. Faceoff on Friday is set for 4 PM and will stream on ESPN+/

US World Juniors vs Finland 5 PM NHL Network

The US World Junior squad coached by Bob Motzko and with forward Brodie Ziemer and LJ Mooney on it will face a tough Finland squad in the World Junior Quarterfinals at Grand Casino Arena at 5 PM. A win sets up a probably US vs Canada Semifinal on Sunday night. But a win is not a guarantee with the US having struggles in goal and having injury issues. Faceoff is set for 5 PM and will air on NHL Network.

Men’s Hockey @ Bemidji State—Exhibition 7 PM Fox9+

The rest of the Gopher men’s team minus the coaches and players at the World Juniors head up to Bemidji to face the Beavers in an exhibition game on Friday night. It will be a chance for some of the less heralded Gophers to try and ease back into action and be ready to attack the Big Ten schedule in a week where the Gophers do not have much of a margin for error if they want any chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Faceoff is set for 7 PM and the game will air on Fox9+.

#15 Gymnastics @ #5 Utah 8 PM ESPN+

The Gopher gymnastics team kicks off their 2026 season on Friday with a huge ranked battle in Salt Lake City. The #15 ranked Gophers will face host #5 Utah as well as #22 Iowa in the tri-meet. The Utes finished in 4th place at the NCAA Championships a season ago.

Minnesota was predicted to finish in 4th place in the Big Ten by the conference coaches in their annual preseason poll. UCLA, Michigan State and Michigan were the three predicted to finish ahead of the Gophers The Gophers had a pair of gymnasts named as Gymnasts to Watch by the Big Ten prior to the season. Fifth0year senior Gianna Gerdes is on the list after returning to the Gophers squad this season after taking a season off. From 2021-24, Gerdes was a key part of the Gophers program, including working as an all-arounder in 2023 and 2024. She was a two-time First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Championships Team (2023, 2024) selection, an AAI Award Nominee (2024) and a Big Ten Medal of Honor (2024) recipient.

Junior Jordyn Lyden was also named to the list. Lyden had a breakout year two to earn All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career. One of the top uneven bars specialists in the Big Ten with an NQS of 9.900, Lyden led Minnesota with seven bars event titles last season. She hit 9.900 five times, including a season-high of 9.950. The Stillwater, Minn., native, who ranked 27th in the nation on bars, also had an outstanding season on balance beam. Lyden led the ‘U’ with four beam titles, hitting 9.900 three times. She ranked eighth in the Big Ten and in the top-50 nationally on the event.

Friday’s action starts at 8 PM and will stream on ESPN+.

Saturday January 3rd:

Swimming and Diving @ Tampa 10 AM

The Gopher swim and dive teams are in Florida to take on Tampa University in their home pool on Saturday morning. The Gopher men will also face Notre Dame in the same meet. It will be the first time back in the competition pool since early December for both Gopher squads. A live stream of the meet is available HERE.

Wrestling @ Soldier Salute 10 AM BIG+

The Gopher wrestling team heads to Coralville, Iowa for the annual Soldier Salute wrestling tournament. The Gophers will compete against wrestlers from several other schools including most notably Big Ten rival Iowa. Navy, University of North Carolina, Wyoming and Bellarmine will all have their entire squad in attendance. Missouri, Iowa State, South Dakota State, and UNI will all be represented as well. Action will continue into Sunday as well. All action will stream on B1G+.

Women’s Hockey @ Sacred Heart Noon ESPN+

Game two of the series between the Gophers and Pioneers is set for a Noon central faceoff on Saturday. It will again stream on ESPN+.

Men’s Basketball @ Northwestern 4 PM BTN

The Gopher men’s basketball team jumps fully into Big Ten action on Saturday starting with a road tilt at Northwestern. The Gophers are 1-1 in conference play after an upset in over Indiana and a loss at Purdue. Northwestern is 0-2 after losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State. Saturday’s game will be a showcase of the two highest scorers in the conference thus far in Minnesota’s Cade Tyson and Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli. Tyson ranks slightly behind Marinelli at 21.9 ppg, while Martinelli leads the B1G with 22.8 ppg. Tyson leads the Big Ten in overall points (285) and free throws (87) and is second in ppg and fourth in field goals (85). Tyson’s 285 points also rank 11th nationally, while his free throws rank fourth in the nation.

Minnesota leads the all-time series at 102-74 over the Northwestern Wildcats, dating back to 1909. The Gophers are looking for their first win over the Wildcats since 2024 and their first road win in Evanston since 2020.