Minnesota Lines Up Rematch With Wisconsin On 2016-17 Schedule

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers have announced their schedule for the 2016-17 NCAA season, with a dual meet rematch against Big Ten rival Wisconsin looming. Their meet program this season is a joint schedule for the men and women, which includes 7 regular season dual/tri meets.

The team will get the dual meet season started on October 8th, traveling to Tallahassee, Florida where they’ll face Florida State and Duke in a tri-meet.

The Gophers then move into Big Ten dual meet competition, as they swim at home against the Wisconsin Badgers on October 13th and the Iowa Hawkeyes on October 29th. The Gophers will look for redemption against rival Wisconsin, as the men and women fell to the Badgers last year, with the women taking a narrow loss by 4 points.

Minnesota has a few meets lined up for the mid-season period, which usually serves as an opportunity for teams to qualify their swimmers for NCAAs early on.

• The 2016 Minnesota Invitational at home (November 10th-12th)
• The IUPUI Diving Invitational (November 17th-20th)
• The 2016 AT&T Winter Nationals in Atlanta (November 30th-December 3rd)
• The Jean K. Freeman Inviational at home for those who aren’t qualified for Nationals (December 2nd-3rd)

The Gophers will then take a break before kicking off 2017 with a series of travel meets, including a pair of 2-day away meets. The teams will battle Denver on January 13th-14th before heading to a tri-meet with Big Ten foes Purdue and Northwestern On January 27th-28th.

The women’s team will head to the Big Ten Conference meet on 15th-18th, with the men competing a week later on February 22nd-25th. Last season, the women landed in the top 3 at 3rd place, with the men finishing 4th.

Swimmers who qualified for NCAAs will close the season at the 2017 NCAA Championships on March 15th-18th for the women and March 22nd-25th for the men. The women and men are coming off of 20th and 16th place finishes, respectively, at 2016 NCAAs.

All-American Brooke Zeiger, who finished 6th in the 400 IM and 8th in the 1650 last season, will be their big weapon on the women’s side as she returns for her junior season. The men will bring back now-senior Matt Barnard, a finalist in the 3-meter at 2016 NCAAs.

Minnesota Swimming & Diving 2016-17 Schedule: