ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine football team is once again driving toward NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision paydirt.
This time, the Black Bears’ march will take them through Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., the home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots.
UMaine athletic director Steve Abbott on Tuesday confirmed UMaine is negotiating to play the University of Massachusetts at Foxborough as one of two FBS contests in 2013.
“It’s something we’ve tentatively agreed to and we’re working on the details,” said Abbott, who added the financial guarantee will be smaller than for UMaine’s previous FBS games.
According to a report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, UMass is expected pay UMaine less than $200,000 for the game, which is slated for Sept. 7, 2013.
“It’ll be a pay game, some kind of six-figure payout,” Abbott said.
By comparison, UMaine will receive $350,000 for its 2012 season opener Sept. 8 at Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
NCAA football teams may schedule 12 games in 2013, which will mark the first time the Black Bears have played two FBS opponents in the same season.
Abbott said UMaine previously signed to play at Northwestern University of the Big Ten Conference. That contest, set for Sept. 21, 2013, will net UMaine in excess of $400,000, which means more than a half-million dollars in revenue for the athletic department next year.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears have played an annual FBS guarantee game since 2004, when they traveled to Starkville, Miss., and knocked off Mississippi State 9-7. However, UMaine is 1-9 overall against FBS opponents, including last season’s 35-29 loss at Pittsburgh.
The 12-game regular season, rather than the usual 11, made playing Massachusetts an even better fit.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t play two FBS games in the same year,” Abbott admitted, “but it’s such an attractive opportunity that we might do it anyway. This is a special one.”
He is hopeful the game might generate a buzz similar to that of the UMaine men’s hockey team’s appearance in the “Frozen Fenway” event last January at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
“It’s great for us to get to play a traditional rival in a pro stadium of the [NFL] team everybody around here cheers for,” Abbott said. “The expenses are minimal and it’s a great benefit for our fans.”
Abbott said the biggest winners are UMaine’s student-athletes.
“I think the kids are going to have a ball. They’re going to love it.”
UMass last year announced it was leaving the Colonial Athletic Association and New England counterparts UMaine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island behind to join the FBS ranks. The Minutemen have made the commitment to playing at the NCAA’s highest level of football and are members of the Mid-American Conference, which necessitated moving to a larger venue.
They will play all their home games at Gillette Stadium in 2012 and 2013 and must hold at least four games each there in the 2014 through 2016 seasons.
Perillo, Howley named All-Americans
UMaine football standouts Justin Perillo and Chris Howley have been named Preseason All-Americans by the College Sporting News, which ranked the Black Bears 19th in its preseason poll.
Perillo, a junior tight end from Wilmington, Del., was named a second-team choice. The All-Colonial Athletic Association preseason selection caught 51 passes for 511 yards and four touchdowns en route to an All-CAA second-team nod in 2011.
Howley, a senior offensive lineman from Runnemede, N.J., was picked for the All-America third team. The All-CAA Preseason honoree anchored a line that produced the first 3,000-yard passer in school history and paved the way for a 1,000-yard rusher.
UMaine went 9-4 last season and advanced to the FCS national quarterfinals. UMaine finished 8th in the national polls.
The Bears, who report for training camp on Aug. 12, also were ranked 12th in the Any Given Saturday FCS preseason poll.
Plus, they have a good shot at beating UMass.
Two FBS games. UMass isn’t a BCS school, Northwestern is. The Big Ten is a BCS conference while the MAC is most definitely not. Many forget that the BCS is a separate entity from the NCAA.
FBS- Football Bowl Subdivision
BCS- Bowl Championship Series
Huge difference.
I thought UMass was making the jump from 1-AA to 1-A. I don’t know this, but I thought that was the difference between FBS and BCS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS
edit: after further research, I now understand what you mean. Indeed, the difference is great.
More reasons why Steve Abbott was the right choice as the AD for the Black Bears.
Right On! Go Bears!
It might be good to have all the games in Foxborough. If it’s mostly about “scoring” money, why not privatize it, and move the whole program to Foxborough, or at least to Portland? Maybe the Patriots would buy them and turn them into first college-level program to actually become an NFL farm team, the first to spare the universities in this country the sports industry burdens the so-called big-time programs have become. Back on campus, it might allow a genuine restoration of sports and games played by actual students for the reasons the games were played there in the first place. And the fans? We Americans love our foo’ball an’ hoops. We’ll be there, team jerseys on, in the stands and and in our couches forevermore! . We’ll even pay a few bucks (but not too many) to watch and cheer. There might be as many of us as watch the pros at Alfond now.
Wow. Maine is playing two BCS opponents. How long have they had football at Maine? I graduated from what was referred to as a commuter college (only upper division and very few resident students) in 1976 and we had 19,000 students then, now there are over 29,000 on 7 campuses. The school added NCAA football to its offerings in 2001 spending the first four years in NCAA 1-AA, then moving to conference play in NCAA 1-A. They are far from a powerhouse, but every year their opponents are more challenging which is what it takes to develop a program that gets national attention. They recently appointed their second head coach, Carl Pelini, former defensive coordinator for Nebraska-another step to move the team up. Among the teams they are playing this year are Georgia and Alabama. That’s how you go about getting into the big leagues. If you want to WALK with the big boys, you need to PLAY with the big boys.
UM has had football since 1892.
Florida Atlantic University. It’s hard to move up in the FBS without being in an upper BCS conference. Good luck to your Owls.
It is hard to make all of the advancements towards a powerhouse team when the team is lucky to have 7,000 fans at a game. Even when the blackbears played at home vs. Rhode Island after a huge win last season, attendance barely reached over 7,000…
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t play two BCS games in the same year,” Abbott admitted, “but it’s such an attractive opportunity that we might do it anyway. This is a special one.”
Can we please expect our AD to understand the difference between FBS & BCS? Is that asking too much????????????????????????????? He went to grad school at UMASS for God’s sake!
BTW UMO beat UMASS last season. Not a ‘special one’ by any means.
UMO doesn’t exist. It’s UMaine.
you don’t get it do you nostra-dumbass its not umo it doesn’t exist it’s Umaine
Now can we understand the significance of Penn State Football and the events that happened? We are giddy over a measley $500K for the athletic program, Penn State generates $60 mil a year alone, just in the football program.
$350,000 should just about cover the buy-out of Tim Whitehead’s contract…
That would be nice…but Maine is stuck with TW for this year,and most likely next…unless they can him next spring…but the last few season Hockey East Coaches have been released with 1 year left on their Contracts.
Abbott puts football first. Good man.
Hey Pete, how can you change Abbott’s quote? Either he mistakenly stated BCS or he didn’t. Which is it?