Michigan AD reaffirms plan to play at Rentschler, blames legislature for killing neutral-site option

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon reaffirmed his school's commitment to play at Rentschler Field next year, though he expressed a desire to move the game to a neutral site, in particular MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands. It would cost Michigan $2 million to buy out the contract -- a cost they would more than recoup with a home game.

Apparently the two schools were in talks to move the game to New Jersey -- MetLife officials were contacted and interested -- but UConn had the final say and is keeping the game at Rentschler.

The most interesting bit of news is Brandon's comments that the game could not be moved because of the Connecticut state legislature:

Life is politics, and my understanding is that in the state of Connecticut, when the state (gave) dollars for that stadium, because it's not a university stadium ... they put in legislation that UConn could not move a game off or away from that stadium.

Now, maybe I'm under informed, but I have never heard of a provision like that and I'm 99 percent sure it does not exist. What does exist though is the reality that the legislature would throw a fit if UConn tried to move the game, just like they did to kill UConn's long-term series with Notre Dame (which seems even stupider now than it did then, btw). If I had to bet I'd say that Brandon either misspoke or was slightly uninformed. Either way the Wolverines are coming to Rentschler next year, which is a good thing and a move they should be applauded for.