The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. A member of the

America East Conference The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...

, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

teams are members of

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

, and the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team is an associate member of the

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

program has made several trips to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

and has produced numerous major- league baseball players. The program has also made 16 NCAA tournament appearances, most recently in 2011 when they defeated FIU, 4-1, in the NCAA regionals. The program has won the AEC Tournament five times, in 1993, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2011. The program also won the conference in 1990 and 1991, before the America East sponsored a baseball tournament.

Basketball

The

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams, as well as all other sports teams, participate in the

. Former

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

head baseball coach

Jack Leggett Jack Leggett (born March 5, 1954) is an American college baseball coach. He was recently the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015. Under Leggett, the Tigers reached the College World Series six times. As of the end of the 2012 ...

also attended the university, as well as

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

head coach

Rick Carlisle Richard Preston Carlisle ( ; born October 27, 1959) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroi ...

(although Carlisle transferred to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and finished his college career there). Other notables include

Rufus Harris Rufus D. Harris is a retired American professional basketball player. He was the America East Conference co-Player of the Year as a senior in 1979–80 while playing for the University of Maine. After graduating, Harris was selected in the 19 ...

, Kevin Reed, Matt Rossignol, Jim Boylen, Andy Bedard, and several former Maine high school stars including Bangor's Jon McAllian and Edward Little's Troy Barnies. A prominent current player is

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

-native Gerald Mclemore. The women's and men's basketball teams play at the

Cross Insurance Center The Cross Insurance Center is a 5,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Bangor, Maine, United States. The arena holds up to 8,500 people for concerts, and features an attached 2,000-person convention center. It was built at an estimated cost of $65&nb ...

in Bangor starting with the 2013-14 season. The men's team has held a total of eight games at Memorial Gym since 2003–04. The team has never played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Cindy Blodgett Cindy Lee Blodgett (born December 23, 1975) is a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was also the head coach at University of Maine from 2007 to 2011. Blodgett attended Lawrence High School (Maine), Lawrence High School in F ...

played basketball at Maine before playing in the WNBA. She went on to serve as an assistant coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

. The

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team in recent years has made progress as in the 2009–10 season the team finished the season in second place in the America East conference with a 19–11 overall record with recording one of its biggest wins in recent years with a 52–51 win over

of the Atlantic Coast Conference and in the 2010–11 season defeating the University of Massachusetts, 68-56, and Penn State, 74-64. On May 23, 2007, Blodgett was named the head coach of the women's team. She was released in March 2011. The Black Bears'

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

with the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the College athletics in the United States, American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham, New Hampshire, Durham. The Bobcat, wildcat is the ...

is the longest continuous basketball rivalry between any two non-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

schools: the men's teams have played each other 120 seasons in a row, from 1904–1905 to the present season (2024-2025). The program has developed 2 NBA players those being former

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Jeff Cross and former

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

and current head coach of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

Football

Maine's

team competes in the

. Prior to the 2007 season, the NCAA football league was sponsored by the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

. The football program has produced many professional football players and coaches, such as

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Mike Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

, offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk, quarterback Mike Buck, wide receiver/coach Phil McGeoghan, Pro Bowl linebacker

Lofa Tatupu Mosiula Mea'alofa "Lofa" Tatupu (born November 15, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for th ...

, who transferred to

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

after his freshman year, linebacker Stephen Cooper, Pro Bowl fullback/special teams

Montell Owens Montell Ernest Owens (born May 4, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maine Black Bears. Owens was signed by the Jacksonville Jag ...

, defensive back

Daren Stone Daren Stone (born August 21, 1985) is an American former professional football safety. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played college football at Maine. Stone was also a member of the Dallas Co ...

, tight end Matthew Mulligan, defensive lineman

Mike DeVito Michael Ralph DeVito (born June 10, 1984) is a former American football defensive end. He played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 2007 to 2012, and then the Kansas City Chiefs from 2013 to 2015. He played college ...

, linebacker Jovan Belcher, Pro Bowl fullback/defensive lineman Patrick Ricard, and defensive back Brandon McGowan. Current Iowa coach, and 2002 AP National Coach of the Year

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the Universi ...

began his head coaching career at Maine. In the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

selected wide receiver

Kevin McMahan Kevin Nathaniel McMahan (born March 2, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the last pick in the 2006 NFL draft, earning him the title Mr. Irrelevant. He played college football at Maine. ...

as the draft's last selection, affectionately known as Mr. Irrelevant. Among Division I FCS-level college programs, Maine currently has the most active players on

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

rosters as of 2025. The team has played several

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) opponents. In recent years, the team has played Iowa, Rutgers, Hawaii, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. In 2004, The Maine Black Bears defeated

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

, 9-7. This marked the first time that Maine defeated a

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

opponent. The largest crowd that the Black Bears have ever played in front of was 77,469 fans at Memorial Stadium, when Maine fell, 25–7, to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. The team is scheduled to play BCS games at the ACC's

in 2012 and the Big Ten's

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 2013. UM also defeated longtime rival and FBS opponent Massachusetts, 24-14, in 2013. Despite success over the past decade, including an NCAA tournament berth in 2011, Maine had never won a CAA regular season title. That drought ended on November 16, 2013 as Maine defeated the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

41-0 at home to win their first CAA title.

Ice hockey

The men's

program was introduced in 1977. The team has been successful and have won the

title five times, appeared in eleven

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

s, and won 2

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. The Black Bears compete in the Hockey East conference, which includes teams such as

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, Northeastern, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The program has produced many professional ice hockey players, such as

Paul Kariya Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (born October 16, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as a skilled and fast-skating offensive player, he played in the NHL for the Mig ...

Eric Weinrich Eric John Weinrich (born December 19, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, ...

, Keith Carney,

Garth Snow Garth E. Snow (born July 28, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and former general manager, president, and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the NHL. Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the sixth round ...

Mike Dunham Michael Francis Dunham (born June 1, 1972) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Dunham is the Boston Bruins goalie development coach, and the former head goaltending coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey Le ...

Dustin Penner Dustin Penner (born September 28, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals. Undrafted by any NHL ...

, and

Jimmy Howard James Russell Howard III (born March 26, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and currently a Detroit Red Wings studio analyst for Bally Sports Detroit. He spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the ...

. The team is best known for its 1992–93 season, in which the team only lost one game, finishing with a record of 42–1–2. The team is noted for its head coach Shawn Walsh, who coached the team for seventeen seasons. Walsh is credited with turning the team into such a successful program, as well as turning the Alfond Arena into one of the most intimidating arenas in college hockey. Walsh died of

renal cell carcinoma Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the Proximal tubule, proximal convoluted tubule, a part of the very small tubes in the kidney that transport primary urine. RCC is the most common type of kidney cance ...

on September 26, 2001.

Media

Radio and television

Currently the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

for all football and hockey games, as well as their respective coaches shows are carried on the Voice of Maine News/Talk Network (

WVOM-FM WVOM-FM (103.9 megahertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station city of license, licensed to Howland, Maine, and serving Central and Downeast Maine, including Bangor, Maine, Bangor. It airs a talk radio radio format ...

and

WVQM WVQM (101.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Augusta, Maine, United States. It simulcasts a talk radio, talk radio format with 103.9 WVOM-FM in Bangor, Maine, Bangor. The stations are owned by Blueberry Broa ...

; the current flagship for all men's and women's basketball games as well as baseball and select softball games is

WGUY WGUY (1230 AM) is a radio station licensed to Veazie, Maine, United States. It is owned by Port Broadcasting, LLC, and operated by Mix Maine Media as a simulcast of WCTB, its classic country station in Fairfield. History The station sig ...

. All games are carried on GoBlackBears.com. TV coverage includes Bangor's

WVII-TV WVII-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The station is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting alongside Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox affiliate WFVX-LD (channel 2 ...

, with games simulcast on

Fox College Sports Stadium College Sports (formerly Fox College Sports) was a group of three American sports networks. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Allen Media Group (under the joint venture Diamond Sports Group), the three channels aired college and hig ...

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...

, and

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...

Comcast SportsNet New England NBC Sports Boston is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events thro ...

also carry select games as part of a larger contract with the conferences the sports are in. During the school year the ''Black Bear Insider'' is carried Sunday mornings on WVII at noon, and rebroadcast on Fox College Sports as well. In 2006 the university sold the multimedia advertising and broadcast rights to all athletic events to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

-based Learfield Sports. Starting with the fall 2007 sports season, WVOM and

split radio coverage, WGUY carrying men's and women's basketball and select baseball and softball games and WVOM carrying football and hockey broadcasts. After the 2008 fall sports season, WAEI-FM became the flagship for all Maine sports; the rights were transferred again to WKSQ in 2011 (though WAEI's AM sister station remained a co-flagship), before coming back full circle locally to WVOM (Blueberry) and WGUY (WaterFront) in 2013. Many Black Bear games can also be heard on

WMEB-FM WMEB-FM is a non-commercial radio station owned and operated by the University of Maine, broadcasting on 91.9 FM from its campus in Orono and a transmitter located in Old Town. The station is run by university students and programs an alternat ...

, a student-run, commercial-free radio station located on campus.

Championships

Men's ice hockey

Men's Cross Country – 1915 (IC4A)

Baseball

Softball
America East – 1994, 2004 Football
Yankee Conference – 1949, 1951, 1952, 1961, 1965, 1974, 1982,1989, 2000, 2009 Atlantic 10 – 2001, 2002
Coastal Athletic Association - 2013, 2018 Riflery
Yankee Conference – 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966The Maine Book: University of Maine Athletics 1881-2007 online at: http://umaine.edu/mclub/files/2011/07/27-Riflery.pdf Women's Basketball
America East – 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2018, 2019 Men's Cross Country
America East – 2004
Yankee Conference – 1950, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963
New England – 1913, 1914, 1921, 1922, 1927, 1928, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959 Men's Indoor Track
Yankee Conference – 1964 Men's Outdoor Track
America East – 1995
Yankee Conference – 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
New England – 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 Women's Outdoor Track
New England – 2003

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Maine Black Bears, color=white , list = {{America East Conference navbox {{Colonial Athletic Association navbox {{Hockey East {{Maine Sports