When enormous underdog Bowling Green came to Minnesota and stunned the Gophers with a 14-10 win in 2021, the Mid-American Conference school received a $1.45 million payday to play in the nonconference game.

Buffalo will receive the same amount to be the Gophers’ season-opening opponent at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium. That sum was revealed in a 2020 contract obtained by the Pioneer Press via a data records request to the U this week.

The Gophers were a 31-point favorite against Bowling Green four years ago and are a 17 1/2 point favorite Thursday against the Bulls. Buffalo is picked to finish fourth in the MAC this season after after a 9-4 record in 2024.

The Gophers will play Northwestern State next weekend and will pay the FCS-level Louisiana program $500,000 for the trip north, according to the 2023 contract.

Cal compensate the Gophers with $300,000 for its nonconference game on Sept. 13 in Berkeley, Calif., and the Gophers will reciprocate that $300,000 payment to Cal following its scheduled game in Minneapolis in 2028.

The Gophers-Bears game in California was originally scheduled for Sept. 1, 2029, but was moved up to this year in a contract amendment from 2022.

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