Program field guide · 2026

Big Ten · Minnesota

Minnesota

Golden Gophers

Minnesota’s Minnesota-developed core fell from 34 to 21 players.

2026 roster · Roster geography

The Minnesota roster story

In 2016, 34 of 108 roster spots were filled by Minnesota players with no earlier college team detected. On the 2026 roster, 21 of 113 fit the same definition. Detected transfers went from 1 to 22.

In 2016 the median player grew up 344 mi from campus. Now it is 627 mi.

Of the 22 players who came from another college, 1 is from Minnesota. Those home-state players make up 5% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

The record reaches back to 1990, when 43% of the roster came from Minnesota. Today it is 19%.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–2534.8%26.0%1.3%12.9%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core34.8%26.0%
Transfer stock1.3%12.9%

The roster, at a glance

  • 647 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 105 located players.
  • 19.5%In-state19.5% of the roster is from Minnesota.
  • 16.2%Backyard16.2% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 19.5%Detected transfers19.5% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where Minnesota ranks

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

0200400600FBS median (250 mi)199019972004201220192026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedOutsider developedOutsider transfer200420082013201720222026

Where do Minnesota's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
202611319.5%19.5%627 mi
202511025.5%21.8%505 mi
202411531.6%13.0%337 mi
202311529.8%12.2%340 mi
202210924.1%10.1%412 mi
202111926.5%7.6%415 mi
202012433.6%4.0%366 mi
201912233.6%4.9%380 mi
20189934.7%2.0%362 mi
20179638.5%1.0%330 mi
201610831.5%0.9%344 mi
201511933.9%0.0%337 mi
201412633.6%0.0%343 mi
201312335.2%0.0%353 mi
201212335.5%0.0%353 mi
201111837.3%0.8%323 mi
201010634.0%0.9%353 mi
200910241.6%1.0%320 mi
20083134.8%0.0%
20072563.6%0.0%
200629100.0%0.0%
2005290.0%
2004240.0%
2003archive9938.5%7.1% proxy251 mi
2002archive9843.2%3.1% proxy241 mi
2001archive9739.1%7.2% proxy278 mi
2000archive9236.4%2.2% proxy284 mi
1999archive9941.7%1.0% proxy239 mi
1998archive12143.7%2.5% proxy225 mi
1997archive10041.4%1.0% proxy
1996archive10641.0%0.0% proxy
1995archive10638.4%0.0% proxy302 mi
1994archive10437.9%0.0% proxy352 mi
1993archive11236.0%0.0% proxy293 mi
1992archive10735.8%0.0% proxy318 mi
1991archive12240.5%0.0% proxy250 mi
1990archive11042.7%0.0% proxy240 mi

‡ fewer than 70 roster rows or under 75% known home state — treat with caution.

archive = official athletic-site roster. “Proxy” is the share listing a previous school where that field behaved like a transfer field; it is not the same measure as detected transfer stock.

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

Minnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometownMinnesota player hometown

Homecoming Radius: 627 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

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