REPORT: Minnesota set to play San Francisco in Sioux Falls
The Minnesota Golden Gophers have added another opponent to their 2025-26 schedule.
According to college basketball insider Jeff Goodman has reported that the Golden Gophers will take on the West Coast Conference’s San Francisco Dons this season on November 22. The matchup is expected to be a neutral site game, taking place at The Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The Dons are the latest non-conference opponent for the Gophers joining Alcorn State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Fairleigh Dickinson, Texas Southern, Missouri, and Campbell. They also are set to compete in the Acrisure Series in November.
The remainder of the Gophers’ non-conference slate, however, is weak per last year’s final RPI including four teams ranked 300 or above.
San Francisco in 2025-26 will be entering their fourth season under head coach Chris Gerlufsen who has at least 20 wins in each of his three seasons with the program. As a whole, the Dons have won 20 or more games in four straight seasons including the 2021-22 season under current Florida head coach Todd Golden.
Despite the success, the Dons have made just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the process.
San Francisco is one of the better non-conference opponents on the Gophers 2025-26 schedule finishing with an RPI of 53 last year. That makes them the second best non-conference opponent for the Gophers behind Missouri who finished last season at No. 44.
The 2025-26 season will be the first for Minnesota under brand new head coach Niko Medved. The former manager of the Gophers came to Minneapolis after a successful seven year stint with the Colorado State Rams which included three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years.
It will now be upto Medved to help the Golden Gophers get back to the NCAA Tournament. The program has finished below .500 in five of the last six seasons and has not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season.
