There will be some extra excitement in the air in today’s Maine college football contests.

The game involving the University of Maine has playoff ramifications, while Colby College of Waterville is shooting for yet another Colby-Bates-Bowdoin series title.

Massachusetts (2-6) at Maine (6-2), noon, Alfond Stadium, Orono

UMaine can’t afford a loss if it hopes to qualify for postseason. The next step toward the playoffs for the 20th-ranked Black Bears is trying to beat the surging Minutemen, who have won two of their last three.

“They remind me a little bit of last year’s team here, where we were a 2-5 team at one point and we finished strongly with a lot of young players,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove.

This game would appear on paper to be a mismatch. The Bears’ solid defense, which ranks second in Atlantic 10 total defense (317 yards per game) and third in scoring defense (21.5 ppg), runs into the league’s most anemic offense. UMass is averaging a league-low 17.5 ppg.

Led by junior linebacker Stephen Cooper and an improving front four, UMaine faces an offense that has been more effective with the pass than with the run. Quarterback Matt Guice has competed 47 percent of his passes good for 211 yards per game, throwing to the likes of wideout DeShon Hardy (36 receptions, 529 yds.).

Tailback Kevin Quinlan and Omari Howard headline the run game, which ranks 10th in the A-10 at only 97 ypg.

“They’re developing on offense,” Cosgrove said. “I’m impressed with Guice and how much he’s grown. He’s putting them in a position to win games.”

The UMaine offense will take what the UMass defense gives it. Minutemen defensive coordinator Neil McGrath, who implemented the same defense at UMaine, will try to keep the pressure on QB Jake Eaton and the Bears.

Eaton (1,690 yds., 57 percent completions, 15 TDs) needs ample time to find wideouts Paris Minor (43 rec., 640 yds., 3 TDs) and Stefan Gomes (47 rec., 576 yds., 7 TDs). However, the Bears also will keep UMass honest with the run game behind Royston English (828 yds., 104 ypg), who ran for a career-high 213 yards in last week’s win at Rhode Island.

“They’re a pressure-oriented team,” Cosgrove said. “Their defense presents problems because we know they’re similar to us in a lot of ways with what they’re running.”

Free safety Jeremy Robinson (7.6 tackles per game) and linebacker Jeremy Cain (7.3 tpg) head the Minutemen’s defensive charge.

“Everybody’s focusing on this game,” said UMaine defensive end Damon Boinske. “We can’t lost this game, then win the next one, and expect to be in the playoffs.”

Colby (3-4) at Bowdoin (1-6), 12:30 p.m., Whittier Field, Brunswick

Throw out the records, the season’s disappointments, and prepare for an intense football game.

The White Mules and the Polar Bears meet on the football field for the 113th time, dating back to 1892, in what is the third-longest Division III college gridiron rivalry behind Williams-Amherst (115) and Kalamazoo-Albion (114).

Colby has won the CBB crown 10 times in the last 13 years, but a Bowdoin victory today would result in a three-way tie. The Mules have won two straight against the Polar Bears.