The University of Maine’s football team was picked to finish eighth in its 11-team Atlantic 10 conference.

The 9-3 Bears wound up 10th in the country.

The final Sports Network Division I-AA poll had the Bears ranked 10th on Monday between No. 9 Eastern Illinois and No. 11 Hofstra.

It is believed to be the highest ranking a University of Maine football team has ever attained in a final poll.

“It is, without question,” verified Maine offensive coordinator Bob Wilder, who was the quarterback and co-captain for the 1987 team that went 8-4 including a first round overtime loss to Georgia Southern (31-28).

Maine went 9-3 two years later with a first-round playoff loss (38-35) to Southwest Missouri State concluding their season.

“The ’87 team, if we finished in the top 25, it was just barely,” said Wilder. “The ’89 team was ranked as high as fourth. It was 8-0 [at one point]. But it wound up losing three of its last four.”

Wilder, in his 12th year with the program and second as offensive coordinator, admitted he was a “little surprised” that the Bears weren’t ranked higher.

“We made it to the Final Eight so we should be among the top eight teams in the poll,” said Wilder. “Why should Eastern Illinois be ahead of us? They lost in the first round to Northern Iowa and they lost at home. We went on the road against a five seed [McNeese State] and beat them [14-10] in front of their fans. And we went on the road and gave Northern Iowa all they could handle for three quarters [before losing 56-28].”

Wilder figures Maine was hurt because it hasn’t been a consistent winner and hasn’t built a tradition.

“Coach [Jack] Cosgrove said it best after the season. He said our goal this past season was to play in December. Our goal next season will be to play a home game in December [by earning a high seed and submitting a bid],” said Wilder.

He said making it to the Final Eight has already paid dividends in the recruiting wars.

“The players and their [high school] coaches know what we did. They follow that. And recruits want to be a part of a winning team,” said Wilder, who added that it’s also easier to get tapes and information from the coaches about their recruit.

He said their success helps compensate for their geographic disadvantages.

“It eases that pain a little bit because we tell them if they can grin and bear it, they’ll have a chance to be a part of a pretty unique experience,” said Wilder who is also more than happy to inform them that the Bears will take an eight-game home winning streak into next season.

Wilder said the late Shawn Walsh, Maine’s hockey coach who died of complications from kidney cancer on Sept. 24, was able to recruit players “from all over the world because he could tell them they go to the [NCAA] playoffs every year and win national championships.”

The football team will return 15 starters and Wilder said they must “build on” the season they had and become consistent winners.

“With a winning program, we’ll hopefully begin getting better crowds like the hockey team and the women’s basketball team when Cindy Blodgett was here,” said Wilder.

Black Bears prep for Everblades

The Maine hockey team will return to the ice on Wednesday night in Estero, Fla. in preparation for the Everblades College Hockey Classic on Saturday and Sunday.

Maine, 8-5-3, plays 9-6-1 Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. after 8-2-1 Cornell opens the tourney against 9-6-1 Northern Michigan at 4:00.

The consolation and championship games will be at 4:00 and 7:30 Sunday.

Maine is the defending champ as the Bears beat Clarkson 4-2 and Cornell 2-1 last year in the inaugural Everblades tourney.

All four teams were ranked among the top 15 in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online poll as Cornell was eighth; Maine 11th; Northern Michigan 12th and Ohio State 15th.

Cornell, Maine and Northern Michigan were in the same spots in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll but Ohio State was 17th.

Maine interim head coach Tim Whitehead said half of his team will fly out of Portland Wednesday morning and the other half will fly out of Boston.

He said he can never recall a team having a three-week break like the current one for his Bears and it will be a challenge to get them ready for the weekend.

“The lineup will probably be very similar to the ones we used against Boston College [a 5-2 win and 3-3 tie on Dec. 7-8],” said Whitehead. “Since we’ve been off so long, we’ll need stability in the lineup. We’ll need guys who are used to playing together. No matter how hard we skate them, their timing is going to be off and they won’t be in top hockey shape.”

The players were given training regimens to follow over the break by the Maine coaches.

Whitehead pointed out that he has “options” in case players slacked off.

“If somebody didn’t pay the price with the workouts, it’ll provide an opportunity for somebody else to get in the lineup,” said Whitehead.