The 2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the second under head coach Tim Brewster. They began play on August 30, 2008 at home against Northern Illinois from the Mid-American Conference, and finished the regular season against Iowa, on November 22. It was the Golden Gophers' final season in the Metrodome, as they moved into TCF Bank Stadium in 2009. The Gophers accepted a bid to the Insight Bowl and played Kansas on December 31 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

The 2008 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Jerry Kill, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 6–7 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing fourth in the MAC's West Division. Northern Illinois was invited to the Independence Bowl, where they lost to Louisiana Tech. The team played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.