1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 17th year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 3–6–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 237 to 180.^[1]

Defensive back Jeff Wright received the team's Most Valuable Player award. Linebacker Bill Light and Wright were named All-Big Ten first team. Offensive tackle Alvin Hawes, running back Barry Mayer and safety Walt Bowser were named All-Big Ten second team. Mayer was named an Academic All-American. Mayer was also named Academic All-Big Ten.^[2] The team included offensive lineman, Richard Fliehr, better known as professional wrestler Ric Flair.

Total attendance at five home games was 225,468, which averaged to 45,093. The largest crowd was against Nebraska.^[3] 1970 was the first season Memorial Stadium had a Tartan Turf surface.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 19	at No. 10 Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MI	L 12–34	57,200
September 26	Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 49–7	39,593
October 3	No. 6 Nebraska*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 10–35	52,287
October 10	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 23–0	40,220
October 17	at No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OHN	L 8–28	86,667
October 24	at No. 5 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 13–39	83,496
October 31	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	T 14–14	51,345
November 7	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–28	33,437
November 14	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 23–13	42,834
November 21	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	L 14–39	50,167
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game