Week 4

SATURDAY, SEPT. 23

ST. JOHN'S VS. ST. THOMAS

1:00 P.M CDT

THIS DIVISION III RIVALRY—known as the Tommies versus the Johnnies—is one of the best in college football, and the 2017 edition will be the first football game of any kind played at the Twins' stadium, Target Field, which opened in 2010. St. Thomas is down the street in St. Paul, and St. John's is a little more than an hour northwest of the Twin Cities. The teams have met 86 times since their rivalry began in 1901. Both draw well, and they're expecting to break the unofficial attendance record for a D-III game (there is no official record) of 17,535, which was set in 2016 in a game between Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Wisconsin-Whitewater. This one promises to be a thrill for those seeking the purity of ye olde game: no scholarships, no national-TV cameras, no football-player-only dorms, no leaving early for the draft. It's just two teams filled with mostly local kids pounding away for bragging rights.

Spend a few more days in Minneapolis, or perhaps take a trip north to one of the 10,000 lakes. When you're ready, head 4½ hours south of the Twin Cities to Dyersville, Iowa, to catch the Field of Dreams, site of the 1989 classic baseball film. Then, it's 2½ hours west to Ames.