AMHERST

It's almost too bad that it's New Hampshire that the University of Massachusetts football team is playing in Foxborough on Saturday.

Playing at Gillette Stadium will place considerable attention on the venue and UMass' impending relocation to the home of the Patriots and the Bowl Subdivision. That's good attention. These are exciting times.

But it would be better if it was Maine or Rhode Island or Holy Cross lining up against the Minutemen in Foxborough. Because the enthusiasm for the future is going to drown out one last monument to the soon-to-be past.

This season is a tour or rivalry farewells. But in reality, while the Minutemen have had some great games against the likes of James Madison and Richmond, their place in UMass fans' hearts will be replaced quickly by Ball State or Toledo or whichever Mid-American Conference teams play the first meaningful games against the Minutemen. Schools in Virginia are as far away as schools in Ohio because they're both further than most UMass fans are willing to travel.

But of all the longtime series going by the wayside, UMass-UNH is the toughest to give up. It was the one series that new fans could appreciate as much as the old fans. On both sides.

The Minutemen played more games against Rhode Island, but very few of those meant anywhere near as much as the games against UNH, especially recently. For the past 15 years, this has been the best rivalry UMass has had with any team in any sport.

Both sides had memorable star players. Mention Ricky Santos, David Ball, Jerry Azumah or Ryan Day to a Minuteman fan and they'll make a face at the instant nightmares those names conjure up.

Liam Coen, Marcel Shipp, Steve Baylark or either Hatchell brother will produce similar sneers among the football faithful in the Granite State.

It seems like all the games between the two New England rivals mattered too. If New Hampshire makes its game-winning field goal try in 1998, UMass probably misses the postseason and thus never wins the Division I-AA title. If John or Jason Hatchell don't bat down a pair of passes in 2006, the Wildcats might have a title of their own.

This rivalry was the best of what New England FCS football had to offer. Bad concessions, congested parking and great football in little out-of-the-way college towns.

If UMass hadn't upgraded to the FBS, the Colonial Clash would have been an added chapter in the long history between the two teams.

Instead Gillette Stadium is the home of the series' epilogue, a game with little tangible meaning and plenty of pride on the line.

So the last game will come with fancy pep rallies, convenient parking and comfortable seats and from the looks of it, nice weather in a beautiful stadium.

It's nice, but it's not right. They'll be plenty of games that belong in Gillette. Not this one.

The last meeting between the old Yankee Conference rivals should have been inside McGuirk Stadium's concrete bunker or dumpy little Cowell Stadium on a cold day with the threat of snow flurries, with a playoff berth hanging in the balance.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.