Gophers plan to play '06 neutral-site game

For the first time in decades, the Gophers football team is expected to play a regular-season game at a neutral site in 2006.

Because they are unable to pay the big guaranteed fees being requested to play road games -- some teams are asking for almost as much as the Gophers take in for a home game -- the Gophers are planning to play Kent State next year at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The contracts haven't been signed, and it's possible Kent State will play two games at the Metrodome in exchange for this game in the future.

In the arrangement for next season with the Mid-American Conference, Iowa is expected to play Northern Illinois at Soldier Field and Wisconsin will face Bowling Green in Cleveland.

However, both Iowa and Wisconsin will have seven home games next season while the Gophers will have six, a big disadvantage to the Gophers, who are fighting for a bowl berth each year.

While refusing to comment, Gophers coach Glen Mason can't be very happy about losing a home game and have one fewer home game than other Big Ten teams.

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi, while saying nothing is final yet, said the decision to play in Canton is strictly a budget problem. He stepped over to the calculator on his desk and multiplied 40,000 fans times $40 -- the extra seats the Badgers sell more than the Gophers for each home game, or a total of $1.6 million. He said this was one of the reasons the Gophers can't pay the big guarantees teams are asking for now.

However, Maturi promised that after 2006, the Gophers would play seven home games each year. However, some Big Ten teams will play eight home games next season.

But regardless of how you look at playing the neutral-site game -- as a coach, player or fan -- it's not positive. Meanwhile, the game with Division I-AA Wofford next season on Oct. 26 has been cancelled. The Gophers will play either Tennessee Tech or Tennessee State on that date.