Behold the benefit of a dome for football, shirts off! Tom Dahlin/SI

AFTER 2 A.M.: Go crazy till 3 a.m. at Burrito Loco in Dinkytown, the Gophers' version of an artsy village.

MUST-EAT: Annie's Parlor in Dinkytown for a burgers-and-fries feel; Village Wok in Stadium Village, just off the East Bank campus, for something a little less Midwestern.

DOSE OF CULTURE: The stainless steel atrocity that is the Weisman Art Museum looks like the Death Star's bastard stepchild but actually hides over 17,000 works of art on campus. Off-campus the Minneapolis Institute of Art does the same thing in a non-university setting. Art-haters can find serenity at the ginormous Mall of America, just 10 minutes away.

MUSIC MUST-STOP: Prince made downtown's First Avenue famous in the '80s, but it's no longer the glitzy rock club twentysomethings remember from Purple Rain. Now it's a relic stopover for acts like Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens. Of note: Husker Du and the Replacements got their start in town, so show some respect.

GETTING AROUND: This is Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a major metropolitan city. Parking is a major pain in the ass. Take the Campus Connector buses to get back and forth between the East and West Bank campuses (the latter is closer to downtown) and to get to football games at the MetroDome. In the frigid winters, head for the friendly confines of the Gopher Way, an intricate system of frostbite-dodging tunnels and overpasses.

TICKETMASTER: The MetroDome can hold up to 64,172 but struggled average 48,000 in 2004. In other words, you won't be left out in the cold (average November low? 25°F) at kickoff.

ONLY AT MINNESOTA: Football games go down at a pro stadium, so school spirit tends to get drowned out by the sheer mass of the place.

PREGAME/POSTGAME: Head to the pavement-and-gravel parking lots for a taste of NFL-style tailgating. Postgame, warm up at Stadium Village hideouts like Sally's and Stub and Herbs.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Wisconsin at UM football, Oct. 15. (maybe the most underrated rivalry in the Big Ten); Ohio State at UM football, Oct. 29; North Dakota at UM men's hockey, Jan. 13-14; Spring Jam, April 23-30.

PACK YOUR: Mittens. 'Nuff said.

RITE OF PASSAGE: Not that we condone it, but we hear students streak the Northrop Mall on the East Bank on the first day of spring each year. Just saying.

Check out No. 11 Northwestern