Bears head south for playoffs Hopes of the at-home advantage at Alfond Stadium dashed

ORONO – The University of Maine football team had dreamed of playing an NCAA playoff game on Morse Field next Saturday.

Despite posting a school-record 10 victories, earning a No. 9 national ranking and claiming a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship for the second straight season, the Black Bears are headed back on the road.

That difficult road to the NCAA Division I-AA football national championship begins Saturday, when 10-2 UMaine travels to Boone, N.C., for a 1 p.m. first-round game against No. 7 Appalachian State (8-3).

The announcement, made Sunday afternoon on ESPN News, was greeted by gasps as a seemingly stunned group of UMaine players, coaches, staff, family, friends and boosters watched the selection show in Alfond Arena’s Dexter Lounge.

“There’s no getting away from the disappointment of not having a game here; you can’t hide from that,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove.

“But we’ve got a chore in front of us that we accomplished last year, to go on the road and beat somebody and introduce them to Maine football,” he added.

The Bears earned one of eight at-large bids for the 16-team NCAA tournament. Eight teams won automatic bids by winning league titles.

UMaine had submitted a bid to be host of a first-round game, but the selection committee awarded home games to A-10 co-champ Northeastern (10-2), which claimed the league’s automatic bid, and to conference rival Villanova (9-3).

“It definitely hurts to see that Villanova, a team that we beat in our conference, on their field, is hosting a playoff game,” said senior safety Dave Cusano. “I think that’s a little disappointing.”

Appalachian State was the runner-up in the Southern Conference, which, along with the A-10, placed three teams in the playoffs. The Mountaineers of coach Jerry Moore are hosts of a postseason game for the fourth time in five years.

Appalachian State is averaging 10,878 fans per game at Kidd Brewer Stadium. The winner of Saturday’s game faces the winner of No. 3 Georgia Southern (9-2) vs. No. 11 Bethune-Cookman (11-1).

The NCAA Division I-AA committee selected the host sites based on the quality of the facilities, attendance history, revenue potential, and the teams’ on-field performance. It also groups the tournament field geographically to reduce travel and take advantage of regional interest.

“It’s a little disappointment that we’re not playing in the friendly confines of home,” said senior linebacker Rob Kierstead of South Portland. “When teams have to come up here and taste the weather, it’s a different atmosphere for them.”

UMaine’s northern location, coupled with the fact teams in the same conference cannot be matched in the first round, meant the Bears were an easier target to be sent on the road.

“They’re trying to create regional rivalries in the playoffs and for the most part they’ve done that,” said Paul Bubb, UMaine’s interim athletic director. “What happens is because of our location, they’re going to fly somebody in here or they’re going to fly us out of here.”

Last season, UMaine was shipped to Lake Charles, La., where it defeated McNeese State in a first-round game.

While the Bears’ collective hopes for playing what would have been the program’s first playoff game at Alfond Stadium were dashed, the players quickly accepted their fate and switched their focus to Saturday’s game.

“We’re disappointed because we thought we should have had a home game, but we’re going down to North Carolina,” said senior linebacker Stephen Cooper. “We’re just excited for another week of football.”

Cosgrove said he believes by continuing its success on the field and submitting a bid to be host of a postseason game, UMaine is making progress toward getting a home game in the future. He said the Bears must be grateful for the chance to go after the national title again.

“This is an opportunity that 16 teams in the country get. We’re one of them,” Cosgrove said.

“Last year we backed into the playoffs,” he said. “We won out and then some teams lost at the end, and all of a sudden we found ourselves sitting here looking at a TV and getting invited. We went in the front door this year.”