St. Thomas coach John Tauer eyes future rivalry with Minnesota Gophers

Tauer and the Tommies want to start something special against the crosstown Gophers.

Dec 14, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Thomas - Minnesota head coach John Tauer reacts during the second half of their game at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman-Imagn Images | Mark Hoffman-Imagn Images

How long before the Minnesota Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies are battling annually in an in-state college basketball rivalry game? It hasn't happened yet, but St. Thomas head coach John Tauer is on board with the idea and excited that new Gophers head coach Niko Medved is open to making it happen.

"We try to create great opportunities for our student-athletes. We played places like Marquette and Creighton and others, but we've said all along we would love to play the Gophers. It was fun to hear Niko say in his press conference he's open to it. We may hold him to it," Tauer told KFAN's Justin Guard from the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas on Friday.

"I think it would be a game that would be wonderful for the state of Minnesota. Our two universities, they don't have to be identical. You don't have to draw all these comparisons. Yes, we all want to win. But look, they've been around 100-and-some years and we've been around four. I don't think anybody is going to pick us to win, but we would sure love to play them and I think it would be really, really fun."

The Tommies have been at the DI level for four years and they reached the Summit League Tournament championship game this season. They lost to Omaha (a team the Gophers narrowly defeated earlier in the season), but had they won they still wouldn't have received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because they were in their final year of a provisional period after making the jump from Division III to DI.

It's unclear if there's any chance the Gophers and Tommies will play as soon as next season, but the sooner it happens the better it'll be for college hoops fans in Minnesota.

"I think it would be a sellout crowd, and when you look at types of games — Marquette vs. the Badgers, Creighton vs. Nebraska — I think down the road that St. Thomas vs. Minnesota will be a really fun atmosphere for everybody involved," Tauer said.

"Scheduling is really hard in Division I basketball," Tauer added. "That's right at the top of the list in terms of just how complex it is. Everybody has to make their own schedule, but I was excited to hear Niko say that — that they were open to it and interested. Hopefully that will happen in the near future."