Minnesota president Eric Kaler has a messy, messy situation on his hands.

In an attempt to reach a compromise in the Minnesota football team boycott mess, Kaler released a statement. It said that players declined to meet with he and athletic director Mark Coyle to discuss why the 10 players were suspended despite to criminal charges being filed, and that he wanted both parties to understand the situation:

“This offer remains open, as we’d like to sit down with these student-athletes and answer any questions that we are legally permitted to address. It is important that they understand our commitment to the university’s values, and why any athletics department decision is different from any conduct code and is different from the decisions made in the criminal justice system.”

Kaler also said that he sent an email to players, explaining the reasoning for the suspensions. In it, he said that he couldn’t detail the reasoning for the suspension because of federal privacy laws:

“That was a values-based decision by the Athletics Department and not a legal judgment. But we can tell you that certain behavior is simply unacceptable and antithetical to our institutional values. We support Gopher Athletics’ decision because this is much bigger than football. It is about the values every University of Minnesota student is called on to uphold. We make these expectations clear, and when they are not met, there are consequences.”

According to Kaler, the university would let the Holiday Bowl know soon about whether or not they’d be participating. He said that he hoped he would get the chance to meet with players before that.

But the plan was for Minnesota players to meet with regents before meeting with Kaler.

Barring a sudden change of heart from either side, Minnesota’s bowl participation odds aren’t looking promising.