The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the ancestor of today's CAA Football, the legally separate football league operated by the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), and the continuation of the New England Conference, though all three leagues were founded under different charters and are considered separate conferences by the NCAA. Also, CAA Football does not recognize the New England Conference as one of its predecessors, though it does recognize the Yankee Conference as such. 2024 marked a return of The Yankee Conference when in August of 2024 it was announced that Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University would play for The Yankee Conference Championship presented by LEONA.
Fox Sports Maine was a network of sports/talk stations owned by Blueberry Broadcasting carrying Fox Sports Radio. Located in Central Maine, it comprised WFAU in Gardiner, Maine, WVOM in Rockland, Maine, and WIGY in Madison, Maine. Its studios were located in Augusta, Maine. The network also carried some CBS Sports Radio programming.
The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The University of New Hampshire competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a full member of the America East Conference, and sponsors teams in seven men's, eleven women's and one coed NCAA sanctioned sports. However, the men's and women's hockey teams are members of Hockey East, the gymnastics team is a member of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL), and the ski team is a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA). The football team plays as an associate member of the Coastal Athletic Association in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, the second tier of Division I formerly known as Division I-AA.
WVOM-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Howland, Maine, and serving Central and Downeast Maine, including Bangor. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Maine-based Blueberry Broadcasting which is headed by Louis Vitale and Bruce Biette. WVOM-FM is known as "The Voice of Maine".
The Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey is an (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Maine. The Black Bears are a member of Hockey East. Home games are played at Harold Alfond Sports Arena commonly known as Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
The Providence Friars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Providence College, located in Providence, Rhode Island. They compete in the Big East Conference for every sport except for ice hockey, where they compete in Hockey East. The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 by former athletic director and men's basketball coach Dave Gavitt. On December 15, 2012, Providence and the other seven Catholic, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference; on March 7, 2013, it was officially confirmed that Providence's new conference would operate under the Big East name. The women's volleyball team, which had been an associate member of the America East Conference before the Big East split, remained in that conference for one more season before joining the Big East for the 2014 season.
Black Bear Sports Network is the radio and television name for University of Maine sports. The radio affiliates broadcast football, men's and women's basketball, men's ice hockey and select baseball and softball games. The current network formed in the summer of 2007 when Learfield Sports took over the marketing for the Maine Black Bears. Previous to this the radio network was known as The Sports Zone Black Bear Network and was heard on Bangor, Maine ESPN Radio affiliate WZON, at times including WLOB and WEGP.
The Maine Black Bears women’s ice hockey team represents the University of Maine. The team plays their home games in Alfond Arena. The team's first year of play was in 1997–98. The Black Bears finished 6th in the 2019–2020 season, advancing to the semi-finals of the Hockey East tournament, before losing to the eventual champions Northeastern Huskies by a score of 1–3. The 2020 Hockey East women's ice hockey tournament was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, but Maine would not have qualified even if the tournament had been played. Hockey East announced plans in July 2020 to play the 2020–2021 hockey season, with an emphasis on league play.
The Maine Black Bears baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Maine, located in Orono, Maine. It is the university's oldest athletic program, having begun play in 1881. It has been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference since its founding at the start of the 1990 season. Its home venue is Mahaney Diamond, located on the university's campus. Nick Derba is the head coach. He was named interim head coach prior to the 2017 season. The program has appeared in 16 NCAA tournaments and seven College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won eight ECAC Tournaments and five America East tournaments. In conference regular season play, it has won five America East titles. 19 former Black Bears have appeared in Major League Baseball.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine. The Polar Bears compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Bowdoin College currently fields teams in fourteen men's sports and sixteen women's sports. The polar bear team name was selected to honor Robert Peary of the class of 1877 who lead the first expedition that reached the North Pole.
The Maine Black Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Maine in Orono, Maine, United States. The school's team currently competes in the America East Conference, which they joined upon its founding in 1979. Their current head coach is Chris Markwood, who took over in March 2022.
John W. Winkin Jr. was an American baseball coach, scout, broadcaster, journalist and collegiate athletics administrator. Winkin led the University of Maine Black Bears baseball team to six College World Series berths in an 11-year span. In 2007, at age 87, he was the oldest active head coach in any collegiate sport at any NCAA level. In all, 92 of his former players wound up signing professional baseball contracts. Elected to 11 different halls of fame, including the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013, he finished his college baseball coaching career in 2008 with 1,043 total wins, which ranks 52nd all-time among NCAA head coaches. He died in 2014.
The Bridgewater State Bears are composed of 22 varsity teams representing Bridgewater State University in intercollegiate athletics. All teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and all teams compete in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), except for field hockey, tennis and swimming & diving which plays in the Little East Conference (LEC).
The Framingham State Rams are composed of 14 varsity teams representing Framingham State University in intercollegiate athletics. All teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and all teams compete in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).
The 2016–17 Maine Black Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by sixth year head coach Richard Barron, played their home games at the Cross Insurance Center and were members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 18–16, 9–7 in America East play to finish in fifth place. They advanced to the championship game of the America East women's tournament where they lost to Albany.
The 2017–18 Maine Black Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Maine Black Bears in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by seventh year head coach Richard Barron and interim head coach Amy Vachon, play their home games at the Cross Insurance Center with 2 games played at Memorial Gym and are members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 23–10, 15–1 in America East play to win the America East Regular Season. They also won the America East women's tournament and earned an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament for the first time since 2004. They lost to Texas in the first round.
The 2018–19 Maine Black Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by second year head coach Amy Vachon, played their home games at the Cross Insurance Center and were members of the America East Conference. Maine won the championship game of the 2019 America East women's basketball tournament over Hartford to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They lost in the first round to NC State.
The 2019–20 Maine Black Bears women's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by third-year head coach Amy Vachon, played their home games at the Cross Insurance Center and were members of the America East Conference.
The 2021–22 Maine Black Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine and were led by fourth-year head coach Richard Barron until his resignation on February 17, 2022. Assistant coach Jai Steadman was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. They were members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 6–23, 3–15 in America East play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the America East Tournament.
The 2022–23 Maine Black Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by first-year head coach Chris Markwood, played their home games at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine, with some games at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono, Maine, as members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 13-17, 7-9 in America East Play to finish in 7th place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament to UMass Lowell.
