The St. John's/St. Thomas football rivalry is heading for U.S. Bank Stadium this fall, and that likely will be the end of it.
The schools announced Wednesday that the teams will meet at 1 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Vikings' stadium. It will technically be a home game for St. John's.
The rivalry spans 119 years. The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) voted last spring to remove St. Thomas, and this fall will bring the Tommies' final football season in the conference they helped form.
St. Thomas is working to make the leap from Division III to Division I and has an invitation from the Summit League, which would house most of its sports, with the football team potentially moving to the Pioneer League. When St. Thomas becomes D-I, it will likely mark the end of this storied rivalry.
"St. John's is thrilled to be able to partner with U.S. Bank Stadium, the finest venue in the NFL, to help us accommodate this historic rivalry game," St. John's athletic director Bob Alpers said in the news release. "Since the announcement that St. Thomas has been invited to join the Summit League, ticket demand for November's game has already been off the charts."
This won't be the first off-campus matchup for the two teams. They played at the Metrodome in 1996 and 1997, and at Target Field before an announced crowd of 37,355 fans in 2017.
Last year's game, a 38-20 win for St. John's, was at Allianz Field before an announced crowd of 19,508.
"U.S. Bank Stadium will offer a fantastic atmosphere for two outstanding football programs to celebrate one of the best rivalries in all of college football," St. Thomas AD Phil Esten said in the news release.
