For the first time since 1989, when NFL-bound Mike Buck was the University of Maine quarterback, the Black Bears are being mentioned in the same breath with the word “postseason.”

Maine, off to its best start since 1992, is 5-3 with three games left. Even so, coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears appear to have only an outside chance at making the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs.

Maine, which is idle this week, has one Yankee Conference game left, against Massachusetts. Cosgrove insists he and the team aren’t looking beyond that game.

“[New Hampshire] is a big game, but I think we’re gonna see some bigger ones if we keep going,” Cosgrove said. “We have an opportunity in two weeks to go down to UMass and if we win that one, we’re 5-0 in the New England Division. That’s a heck of an accomplishment, so that’s our next goal.”

The two-division Yankee Conference doesn’t hold league playoffs. The team with the best eight-game YC record is crowned the champion and receives the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

The Bears are 4-3 in league play, but trail five other teams. James Madison is 4-0 and Delaware is 4-1, while William & Mary, UMass and Villanova are all 3-1 against conference opponents. JMU and Delaware both beat Maine this season.

In all, 16 teams are chosen for postseason play from among 120 schools participating in the I-AA ranks. The winners in the Yankee, Southern, Gateway, Southland, Big Sky and Ohio Valley conferences get automatic bids.

Two spots are awarded to independents and the remaining six slots go to at-large teams chosen by the NCAA Division I-AA Football Selection Committee, which is composed of eight athletic administrators from I-AA schools.

The Yankee Conference has sent at least two teams to postseason every year since 1991. Three were selected in ’91, ’93 and ’94.

It appears the Bears must win their last three games to have a shot at postseason. That would put Maine at 8-3, but the Bears would then also need some of their YC counterparts to absorb two defeats each to have a comparable record and receive favorable consideration from the selection committee.

Despite knocking off then-No. 18 Connecticut two weeks ago and upending then-No. 18 New Hampshire last weekend, Maine is not ranked in this week’s I-AA poll compiled by The Sports Network. The Bears did receive votes, but seven other teams were listed ahead of them.

UConn, which was idle Saturday, is ranked 23rd at 4-3, while UNH holds down the No. 24 spot at 4-2.

Cosgrove said continuing to win is reward enough for the Bears.

“Who cares? I’m not worried about [the poll]. We just want to keep winning and enjoy the product of our work,” Cosgrove said.

Seniors Terry Hunt and Ramone Jones and sophomore John Gordon have been named the captains of the 1996-97 University of Maine men’s basketball team by first-year coach John Giannini.

Giannini said the old-new mix of the captains has a purpose.

“Terry and Ramone deserve the title of captain and the leadership position because of their experience, success and character,” Giannini said. “At the same time we are constantly looking to the future and there’s no question that John is going to be our future leader. He deserved it because of the unique things he did a s a freshman and the things he is doing right now.”

Hunt, a 6-foot-5 forward from Jersey City, N.J., is back for his fifth year after breaking his leg and missing the entire 1995-96 campaign. He averaged 12.3 points per game as a junior.

Jones, a 6-5 swingman from Oak Park, Ill., is the defensive stopper. He held Vermont’s Eddie Benton, the nation’s seventh-leading scorer, to two points in a game last year and to only 29 points in three contests with the Catamounts.

Gordon, a 5-10 guard from Wilmington, Del., led the Black Bears in scoring a year ago with 13.2 points per game despite coming off the bench in all 28 games in which he played. Gordon is a smooth shooter who won or tied five games in the final minute as a freshman.

Black Bear sophomore forward Allen Ledbetter moved one step closer to a completely clean bill of health when he turned in the heart monitor he wore for three days last week.

On Saturday, Ledbetter said all tests had come back negative, but on Monday, Giannini and trainer Paula Linder clarified that a meeting on Wednesday is expected to close the medical book on Ledbetter and state that his irregular heartbeat is normal for him.

Ledbetter had been announced fit to practice midway through last Tuesday’s workout, when his cardiologist called to give him the OK.

Still, he said at the time that doctors wanted him to wear the monitor to see what situations prompted the racing heart he sometimes felt.

Tom Jamo of Schenck High School in East Millinocket has joined Giannini’s squad as a walk-on and suited up for the Homecoming Hoops Madness event held Saturday night.

Jamo, a 6-0 guard, was a third-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine pick in 1996, averaging 23.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.