Maine Black Bears | |
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University | University of Maine |
Conference | America East (primary) CAA (football) Hockey East |
NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
Athletic director | Jude Killy |
Location | Orono, Maine |
Varsity teams | 17 teams (8 men, 9 women) |
Football stadium | Alfond Stadium |
Basketball arena | Memorial Gymnasium (University of Maine) |
Ice hockey arena | Alfond Arena |
Mascot | Bananas T. Bear |
Nickname | Black Bears |
Fight song | The Maine Stein Song and For Maine |
Colors | Maine blue, white, and navy [1] |
Website | goblackbears |
The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice hockey teams are members of Hockey East, and the football team is an associate member of the Coastal Athletic Association.
Men's sports | Women's sports |
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Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Field hockey |
Football | Ice hockey |
Ice hockey | Soccer |
Swimming and diving | Softball |
Track and field† | Swimming and diving |
Track and field† | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
The men's ice hockey program was introduced in 1977. The team has been successful and have won the Hockey East title five times, appeared in eleven Frozen Fours, and won 2 National Championships. The Black Bears compete in the Hockey East conference, which includes teams such as Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, and New Hampshire. The program has produced many professional ice hockey players, such as Paul Kariya, Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney, Garth Snow, Mike Dunham, Dustin Penner, and Jimmy Howard. The team is best known for its 1992–93 season, in which the team only lost one game, finishing with a record of 42–1–2. The team is noted for its head coach Shawn Walsh, who coached the team for seventeen seasons. Walsh is credited with turning the team into such a successful program, as well as turning the Alfond Arena into one of the most intimidating arenas in college hockey. Walsh died of renal cell carcinoma on September 26, 2001.
The baseball program has made several trips to the College World Series and has produced numerous major- league baseball players. The program has also made 16 NCAA tournament appearances, most recently in 2011 when they defeated FIU, 4-1, in the NCAA regionals. The program has won the AEC Tournament five times, in 1993, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2011. The program also won the conference in 1990 and 1991, before the America East sponsored a baseball tournament. [2] [3]
The basketball teams, as well as all other sports teams, participate in the America East Conference. Former Clemson University head baseball coach Jack Leggett also attended the university, as well as NBA head coach Rick Carlisle (although Carlisle transferred to Virginia and finished his college career there). Other notables include Rufus Harris, Kevin Reed, Matt Rossignol, Jim Boylen, Andy Bedard, and several former Maine high school stars including Bangor's Jon McAllian and Edward Little's Troy Barnies. A prominent current player is San Diego-native Gerald Mclemore. The women's and men's basketball teams play at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor starting with the 2013-14 season. The men's team has held a total of eight games at Memorial Gym since 2003–04. [4] The team has never played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. [5]
Cindy Blodgett played basketball at Maine before playing in the WNBA. She went on to serve as an assistant coach at Boston College and Brown.
The men's basketball team in recent years has made progress as in the 2009–10 season the team finished the season in second place in the America East conference with a 19–11 overall record with recording one of its biggest wins in recent years with a 52–51 win over Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference and in the 2010–11 season defeating the University of Massachusetts, 68-56, and Penn State, 74-64.
On May 23, 2007, Blodgett was named the head coach of the women's team. She was released in March 2011.
The Black Bears' rivalry with the New Hampshire Wildcats is the longest continuous basketball rivalry between any two non-Ivy League schools: the men's teams have played each other 119 seasons in a row, from 1904–1905 to the present season (2023-2024).
The program has developed 2 NBA players those being former Los Angeles Clippers Jeff Cross and former Boston Celtics and current head coach of the Dallas Mavericks Rick Carlisle.
Maine's football team competes in the Coastal Athletic Association. Prior to the 2007 season, the NCAA football league was sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football program has produced many professional football players and coaches, such as center Mike Flynn, offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk, quarterback Mike Buck, wide receiver/coach Phil McGeoghan, Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who transferred to USC after his freshman year, linebacker Stephen Cooper, Pro Bowl fullback/special teams Montell Owens, defensive back Daren Stone, tight end Matthew Mulligan, defensive lineman Mike DeVito, linebacker Jovan Belcher, Pro Bowl fullback/defensive lineman Patrick Ricard and defensive back Brandon McGowan. Current Iowa coach, and 2002 AP National Coach of the Year Kirk Ferentz began his head coaching career at Maine. The team also received brief publicity when the Oakland Raiders selected wide receiver Kevin McMahan as the last player in the 2006 NFL draft, affectionately known as Mr. Irrelevant. The University of Maine is known currently to have the most active players on NFL rosters at the Division I FCS level.
The team has played several Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents. The team has played teams in recent years such as Iowa, Rutgers, Hawaii, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh in 2011. In 2004, The Maine Black Bears defeated Mississippi State University, 9-7. This marked the first time that Maine defeated a Division I FBS opponent. The largest crowd that the Black Bears have ever played in front of was 77,469 fans at Memorial Stadium, when Maine fell, 25–7, to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. The team is scheduled to play BCS games at the ACC's Boston College in 2012 and the Big Ten's Northwestern in 2013. UM also defeated longtime rival and FBS opponent Massachusetts, 24-14, in 2013. Despite success over the past decade, including an NCAA tournament berth in 2011, Maine had never won a CAA regular season title. That drought ended on November 16, 2013 as Maine defeated the University of Rhode Island 41-0 at home to win their first CAA title.
Currently[ as of? ] the flagship for all football and hockey games, as well as their respective coaches shows are carried on the Voice of Maine News/Talk Network (WVOM-FM and WVQM; the current[ as of? ] flagship for all men's and women's basketball games as well as baseball and select softball games is WGUY. All games are carried on GoBlackBears.com. TV coverage includes Bangor's WVII-TV, with games simulcast on Fox College Sports. NESN, CBS Sports Network, and NBCSN Comcast SportsNet New England also carry select games as part of a larger contract with the conferences the sports are in. During the school year the Black Bear Insider is carried Sunday mornings on WVII at noon, and rebroadcast on Fox College Sports as well.
In 2006 the university sold the multimedia advertising and broadcast rights to all athletic events to Missouri-based Learfield Sports. Starting with the fall 2007 sports season, WVOM and WGUY split radio coverage, WGUY carrying men's and women's basketball and select baseball and softball games and WVOM carrying football and hockey broadcasts. After the 2008 fall sports season, WAEI-FM became the flagship for all Maine sports; the rights were transferred again to WKSQ in 2011 (though WAEI's AM sister station remained a co-flagship), before coming back full circle locally to WVOM (Blueberry) and WGUY (WaterFront) in 2013.
Many Black Bear games can also be heard on WMEB-FM, a student-run, commercial-free radio station located on campus.
National Champions | 1993, 1999 |
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Hockey East Champions | 1989, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2004 |
Men's Cross Country – 1915 (IC4A)
CWS appearances | 1964, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986 |
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America East Champions | 1990, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2011. 2024, 2025 |
Softball
America East – 1994, 2004
Football
Yankee Conference – 1949, 1951, 1952, 1961, 1965, 1974, 1982,1989, 2000, 2009 Atlantic 10 – 2001, 2002
Coastal Athletic Association - 2013, 2018
Riflery
Yankee Conference – 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966 [6]
Women's Basketball
America East – 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2018, 2019
Men's Cross Country
America East – 2004
Yankee Conference – 1950, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963
New England – 1913, 1914, 1921, 1922, 1927, 1928, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959
Men's Indoor Track
Yankee Conference – 1964
Men's Outdoor Track
America East – 1995
Yankee Conference – 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
New England – 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930
Women's Outdoor Track
New England – 2003
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 Northeastern Huskies are the athletic teams representing Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. They compete in thirteen varsity team sports: men's and women's hockey ; men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's field hockey and volleyball, swimming, and men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's rowing, track and cross-country.
The Stony Brook Seawolves are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Stony Brook University (SBU) in Stony Brook, New York. The Seawolves play as members of the Coastal Athletic Association, which competes at the NCAA Division I level. Stony Brook had previously been a part of the America East Conference from 2001 to 2022, though has competed in CAA Football since 2013. The university's mascot is Wolfie the Seawolf, and the official colors of the Seawolves are red, grey, and blue.
The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the Minutemen nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as Minutewomen. The Minutemen and Minutewomen compete in NCAA Division I sports competition primarily as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. UMass is one of only 16 universities in the nation that plays Division I FBS football and Division I men's ice hockey. The nickname is also applied to club teams that do not participate within the NCAA structure.
The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), which sponsors sports at the NCAA Division I level. In football, JMU participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-A. JMU was a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA),. The Dukes officially left the CAA and joined the SBC in 2022, participating in Division I FBS football and other sports sponsored by the conference.
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 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 men's basketball team represented the University of Maine in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine and were led by 1st-year head coach Richard Barron, who previously served as the head coach of Maine's women's basketball team. They finished the season 5–27 overall, 3–13 in conference play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As the 8th seed in the 2019 America East men's basketball tournament, they were defeated by top-seeded Vermont 57–73 in the quarterfinals.
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.