The Green Line train starts at Target Field in Minneapolis and ends at CHS Field in St. Paul. There is a stop at the Taj Ma Zygi, the new Vikings stadium, and then a stop across the street from the Gophers' home, TCF Bank Stadium.
The Gophers will be opening their eighth season in that on-campus stadium on Sept. 1. The opponent will be Oregon State, a sub-mediocre member of a Power Five conference, at 8 p.m. on that Thursday.
There will be some competition for squeezing into Green Line trains that night. The Vikings have an exhibition game with the Los Angeles Rams scheduled for 7 p.m. There are ballgames scheduled for that time at both ends of the line: Twins vs. White Sox and Saints vs. Winnipeg.
That also will be the second Thursday of the State Fair, which drew an attendance of 123,733 in 2015. "We have many people who like to ride the Green Line to Snelling Avenue, then get on our buses,'' a State Fair spokesperson said.
All of this could explain why the Gophers appear headed for attendance in the low 40,000s for Oregon State. A year ago, the Thursday night opener (on Sept. 3) drew 54,417, the biggest crowd in the stadium's history.
There also was the opponent, of course: No. 2-rated TCU.
Plus, the Vikings were a co-tenant at TCF Bank Stadium, and thus not competing for football fans in a $1.1 billion gift from the citizens of Minnesota that's located 1.4 miles away from the Gophers' opener.
More than anything, though — the opponent, a second straight surcharge added to season tickets, the Vikings' increased dominance with the new dome — I view the coaching change as the main reason for the Gophers' return to a far back burner on the local sports scene.