The burning question on the minds of University of Maine basketball fans this weekend concerns the Black Bears’ chances for a postseason berth.

The National Invitation Tournament and the National Women’s Invitational Tournament appear to be the only remaining hope for the UMaine men’s and women’s teams, who must both be considered longshots to be selected. Either could receive consideration for an NCAA at-large bid, but that is not likely.

Coach Rudy Keeling is in the process of trying to sell the Maine men’s team as a viable choice for the NIT. The folks at the NIT might appreciate the Bears’ success and their exciting, wide-open style of play.

Keeling said Maine was contacted earlier in the season by the NIT staff and has exchanged correspondence in an effort to be considered for the 32-team event, which begins next week at 16 home-court sites and ends with the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Coach Joanne Palombo also has been in touch with NWIT staffers, having expressed a desire to be considered for the eight-team event, which will take place in Amarillo, Texas.

Do the Maine men deserve a bid? Consider the following:

The Bears have established a school record for victories with their 20-9 record, which includes a road win against North Atlantic Conference champion Drexel, 25-4. However, keep in mind that the Dragons were not selected for postseason a year ago, even after finishing as NAC runnerup with a 22-7 record.

Maine does own a victory over Central Florida, which locked up an NCAA berth by winning the Trans America Athletic Conference title. In the overall scheme of things, the NAC is ranked 19th among the country’s Division I basketball conferences.

Keeling doesn’t exhibit much enthusiasm when talking about Maine’s NIT prospects, but is hopeful the Bears will get at least a good look.

“What we’re going to do is get back in touch with them and then list one by one the criteria that we meet,” Keeling said Thursday morning. “We’re pretty close to all the criteria that they have.”

The NIT’s selection criteria are based on a system that awards points based on a team’s won-lost record, taking into consideration the number of home games, home wins, road record, strength of conference, and common opponents. With all things being equal between potential invitees, the NIT committee would look at whether a team had a strong second half of the season, outstanding individual performers, injuries, and margin of victory over quality opponents.

However, the bottom line in the NIT appears to be a team’s ability to generate revenue. That could be a problem for Maine, which would be traveling at least to Boston for an NIT game and possibly farther.

And Maine only averaged about 1,700 fans at home, which means turnout for a long-distance road game is likely to be minimal.

“They just pick out the good teams and say, `this would be a good draw, so you go play them,’ ” Keeling said.

But, Keeling admits he has friends, coaches and administrators, at schools in the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, which sponsors the NIT.

The Black Bear players aren’t getting their hopes too high, but they do have hope.

“I’m just hoping that we get the chance to play in the NIT, even though we’re not a powerhouse team in a powerhouse conference, but we’re a pretty good team in a pretty good conference,” said senior Ed Jones. “I think if we get that shot we can make some more waves, add on to this year.”

Francois Bouchard, another of the Bears’ three seniors, was a little less confident.

“It’s a possibility, but I think we all realize it’s a long possibility because of the strength of our conference,” Bouchard said. “You never know. We’ll see what happens.”

The Maine teams will find out their fate on Sunday. The men’s team must wait for the NCAA Tournament selection show, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and then await the outcome of the NIT selections.

Palombo and her Black Bear women should know about their situation sometime in the late afternoon on Sunday.

Keeling has requested that his players return to campus on Sunday afternoon to wait and hope together. The members of the women’s team, who had already gone home for March break, would return if Maine is selected.