UM picked for national tournament Men’s basketball team in ESPN’s BracketBusters

For the second straight year, the 102-team field picked for the made-for-TV BracketBusters men’s basketball tournament event will include two America East teams.

For the first time in the event’s five-year history, one of those teams will be the University of Maine.

The two-day ESPN event will match 102 “mid-major” teams seen as legitimate NCAA Tournament hopefuls in non-conference games all across the country with 13 of the 51 games televised by ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN360.

“Either way, it’s a positive thing for us in terms of recruiting and it’s nice even to be a part of it because of the exposure,” said Maine men’s coach Ted Woodward. “I look at it really as a great opportunity for our program and another challenging portion of our season.”

The final match-ups and which ones will be televised will be determined by the staff of ESPN after consultation with commissioners of the 14 participating conferences.

“My understanding is we’ll know who and where we’re playing two or three weeks before the game,” Woodward said. “It’s tough because it’s right in the middle of our conference season, but everyone else is in the same situation and having the opportunity for national TV exposure is great.”

The games will be scheduled Feb. 16 and 17.

The two America East teams (Albany and Vermont) picked to play in last year’s event ended up meeting in the conference championship game with Albany winning, earning an NCAA tourney berth, and playing a top-ranked Connecticut squad very tough before losing.

“We haven’t even had our preseason coaches poll yet, so as far as that meaning we’re one of the top two teams in the conference, I don’t know about that,” Woodward said. “Hopefully we will be in that situation as the season goes on.”

The event has expanded each year, from 18 in 2003 to 46 in 2004 to 64 in 2005 and then 100 last year. A lesser-known feature of the event is an agreement between participating teams to play each other again the following year at the other team’s home arena, making it a two-year, home-and-home series. Maine has been designated one of the 51 “road” teams this season.

The selection of the 102 teams – as well as the 26 to play in televised games – is subjective and involves which matchups are most intriguing, which teams are most successful, and regional and/or conference rivalry potential.

“Maybe one of the reasons we’re in there is the return of [all-conference guard] Kevin Reed,” Woodward said. “I think they look at a number of different things when picking those teams.”

The event is named BracketBusters because it features teams from mid-level conferences that produce many of the teams that upset higher seeds in NCAA Tournament brackets.

UM women’s soccer picked No. 2

The University of Maine women’s soccer team has been picked to finish second in the 2006 America East preseason coaches’ poll. The Black Bears got two first-place votes and 58 total points to finish behind conference favorite Boston University (six first-place, 61 points).

Maine has also been picked 10th in a Northeast regional poll by SoccerBuzz, which also ranked Maine’s recruiting class as the 84th best in the country. SoccerBuzz is an online women’s college soccer magazine.

Maine has played in three straight AE title games while BU has been the preseason favorite for three consecutive seasons.

The Maine women open their season on the road Friday at the UConn Classic against Fairfield.

The rest of the AE preseason poll has Binghamton University third with 49 points, New Hampshire with 40, Vermont (35), Hartford (27), University of Maryland Baltimore County (24), Stony Brook (22), and Albany (eight).

Trio joining UMPI Hall of Fame

Three newly elected former University of Maine-Presque Isle student-athletes will increase the UMPI Owl Athletic Hall of Fame membership count to 64 Saturday.

Peter Fields (class of 1979), Ralph Michaud (1983) and Debbie Nakamura (1999) will be inducted into the hall of fame after a 5 p.m. reception and 6 p.m. dinner Saturday.

Fields earned four letters in wrestling for the Owls and won championships at the Acadian Open and University of Moncton Open. He also qualified for NAIA Nationals and was a four-time All-District V selection.

Michaud lettered in both basketball and soccer and twice led the soccer team in scoring. The Fort Fairfield native and All-Northeast Conference pick also was team MVP. In basketball, he dished out a then-school-record 17 assists in one game and 204 assists in the 1982-83 season.

Nakamura earned four varsity letters in softball for the Owls as a pitcher and first baseman. She struck out an average of 7.2 strikeouts per game and batted .427 during a 1996 conference playoff run. She was named team captain and MVP, as well as an all-conference pick that season.