Bears’ thin playoff hopes rest on beating rival UNH UM may rethink nonleague schedule

With its gut-wrenching 10-9 loss at Massachusetts having decimated its postseason hopes, the University of Maine football team is preparing for its annual rivalry with New Hampshire.

The No. 22 Black Bears and 10th-ranked Wildcats meet Saturday at noon in Orono. UMaine looks to spoil New Hampshire’s playoff aspira-tions while maintaining whatever glimmer of hope it might have to sneak into the NCAA Tournament field.

However, with the Bears (6-4, 5-2 A-10) on the verge of their season finale, it is apparent coach Jack Cosgrove is doing some serious thinking about UMaine’s nonleague schedule.

During his brief stay at UMaine, former athletic director Patrick Nero, who is now the commissioner of America East, implemented a philosophy of playing at least one Division I-A team per season.

The bottom line of such a move is that the athletic department receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in guarantee money to show up at the likes of Mississippi State, Nebraska, and Boston College.

This season, the Bears also opened the season at perennial I-AA contender Youngstown State.

Even though UMaine beat Mississippi State and hung tough with Nebraska and BC, those games are going to wind up resulting in defeat most of the time. If you throw in a Youngstown State or the like, those are two games that can put a team in a hole as it tries to battle for postseason consideration.

“You line up against BC, a I-A team, and Youngstown State, a perennial top 10er in I-AA, as part of your nonleaguer and we’re 0-2 there, so that hurts,” Cosgrove said during Monday’s Atlantic 10 teleconference.

Looking back, if the Bears had played two more winnable nonleague games, they might well have an 8-2 record and be gearing up for a postseason run this week.

“I know this, I’m going to try to do much more in terms of influencing that [nonconference schedule] than I’ve been able to do in the past because it can really be a factor in terms of what you end up doing at the end of November,” Cosgrove said.

While UMaine wants a competitive schedule, it has difficulty enticing teams to travel to Orono for nonleague games. Never was that more apparent than this season when a I-AA opponent backed out of a verbal commitment at a late date and left UMaine without a game.

UMaine athletic director Blake James eventually filled the hole with Shaw University, a virtually unknown Division II program from North Carolina. While the Black Bears cruised to a 62-12 victory, that kind of win doesn’t have much credibility with the NCAA selection committee when it determines at-large tournament entries.

While UMaine is scheduled to visit I-A Connecticut next season, Cosgrove clearly would like not to have to sacrifice a game that could cost the Bears a trip to the postseason – no matter how much it’s worth.

“Coaches need to take control of their nonleague schedule,” he said.

Maine softball signs three

The University of Maine softball team has received three National Letters of Intent, including one from the daughter of a former Maine football player, head coach Stacey Sullivan announced.

Cassie Hodgson of Hanover, N.H., the daughter of Mike Hodgson who played for the Black Bears in the 1970s and is a current assistant coach at Dartmouth, will play for Maine next year along with Kirstin Allen of Doylestown, Pa., and Kali Burnham of Courtice, Ontario.

Hodgson began her career at Simsbury (Conn.) High, where she batted .344 as a sophomore. The outfielder-utility player hit .486 and was named to the all-state team after moving to Hanover prior to her junior year.

Burnham, an outfielder, has won back-to-back Canadian National titles with the Markham Jaguars club team, batting .478 through the nationals. She was invited to the Canadian Junior National team tryouts this past year.

First baseman Allen owns a .989 career fielding percentage and was named a game MVP at the 2003 Fast Nationals.

The eligibility of all student-athletes is contingent upon admission to the University of Maine and compliance with all NCAA rules, including registration with the NCAA Clearinghouse.