Wow...this could be a brutal schedule....I like it!!
Change in rules has Minnesota football looking at date with Cats
By SCOTT MANSCH
Tribune Asst. Sports Editor
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The Montana State Bobcats and Minnesota Gophers might soon be headed for a historic meeting on the football field.
"If the Gophers want to play, we're on the bus," said MSU head coach Mike Kramer, reacting to a story published in Saturday's Minneapolis Star-Tribune that quoted Gopher Athletic Director Joel Maturi.
Maturi said a recent NCAA decision pertaining to bowl eligibility, plus the addition of a 12th game in I-A every year, will lead the Gophers to schedule one home game per season against foes from the lower division. Maturi mentioned Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Montana State as possible I-AA opponents.
"We have talked to them in the past, so it didn't surprise me," said MSU Athletic Director Peter Fields. "We have a lot of alumni in the Minneapolis area so it's a good place for us to go."
Largely because of a $440,000 deficit within the athletic department budget, the Bobcats have pledged to play at least one game a season against I-A teams, which can offer 84 scholarships as opposed to 63 for I-AA teams. Such games, while viewed as certain losses on the field, can produce paydays of between $250,000 and $400,000.
This September, the Bobcats will open the season at Oklahoma State on Sept. 3 for a $250,000 check. Then in the fall of 2006, the Cats will play the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder for a school-record $275,000 guarantee.
"And," said Kramer, "I'm sure we will look very hard at trying to get to Minnesota in '06.
"Playing Colorado and Minnesota the same year, that's a pretty heavy undertaking. But the clear-cut truth in all of this is, because we've had no person step forward and donate his or her name to the stadium, financially speaking, we need to increase our revenues. Whether it's increasing ticket prices, or increasing the size of the stadium to increase ticket sales, or whether it's playing more than one I-A team a year ... It's the necessity of the situation because of our overall debt in regards to athletic facility improvement."
According to the MSU media guide, the Bobcats have played only one Big 10 football team. In 1927, the Cats were defeated 39-7 at Purdue.
Although MSU had many Minnesota football connections over the years, the Gophers and Bobcats have never gotten together.
"We have a long lineage of players from the Minnesota area," said Kramer, referring to stars such as Brent Swaggert and Kelly Bradley. "But because we've not played there we've felt it was detrimental to recruiting. So we've sort of gotten out of the Minnesota market."
The recent NCAA decision to add a 12th game to the schedule did not apply to I-AA, which uses a 16-team playoff system. Kramer said he didn't oppose adding another game to the schedule. The veteran head coach said he believes training camp is too long and replacing a week of preseason practice with a game seems like a good trade.
"And besides," Kramer said with a laugh, "we never do well coming out of a bye anyway."
The Bobcats have indeed struggled following open weeks in the past. Often, though, Kramer's MSU teams have been sharp in weeks directly following games against I-A outfits.
In the past, I-AA teams with playoff aspirations have taken calculated gambles by scheduling strong I-A clubs. Because teams with four losses were not considered for at-large berths in the I-AA playoffs. But recently, I-AA officials announced that now seven victories, rather than four defeats, would be the tell-tale statistic.
Once again Kramer chuckled.
"In the end," he said, "it's easier to pick a Pope than to decide those 16 teams that get into the playoffs."
Minnesota
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