Coaches poll

In the preseason poll of America East coaches, the Black Bears have been picked to finish third. UMaine received one first place vote.

Boston University, with six first-place votes, was picked to win the title. Stony Brook had the other two first-place votes and was selected for second.

The poll:

1. Boston U.
2. Stony Brook
3. Black Bears
4. New Hampshire
5. Vermont
6. Hartford
7. Binghamton
8. Albany
9. Maryland-Baltimore County

America East releases schedule

America East has finally released the league schedule. Some
initial observations about the Black Bears slate:

* A chance for a quick start with first two at home and
the first two roadies at UMBC and Albany. Alfond hasn't
been a stellar home venue, but this schedule gives
UMaine a chance to get a quick start.

* Nice non-league schedule with five, count'em,
five D1 home games against non-conference competition.
No reason for fans not to hop on this bandwagon
well before January rolls around.

* Money games. An interesting blend of
guarantee games: ACC (Maryland),
Big East (Notre Dame), Atlantic 10 (UMass)
and Big Ten (Penn State).

* Big game right off the bat. Black Bears
open AE season at home against conference contender
Boston University. The Terriers feature the
frontrunner for the league's Player of the Year
in John Holland. An opportunity to
open the league season with some sizzle.

* End of regular season. It seems every year, the
Black Bears are forced to travel (Binghamton and
Vermont come to mind) the weekend preceding the AE tourney.
In other words, always a short turnaround on the bus.
This year, that trend is stopped. UMaine will end
the regular season with its shortest trip (UNH)
and a home game (Albany). Sweet.


*Nov. 12: at Utah Valley
Nov. 14: at Maryland
Nov. 19: MAINE-MACHIAS
Nov. 22: at Notre Dame
Nov. 29: at Quinnipiac
Dec. 4: BROWN
Dec. 6: DELAWARE STATE
Dec. 8: at Massachusetts
Dec. 12: NORFOLK STATE
Dec. 19: COLGATE
Dec. 21: at Penn State
Dec. 30: COLUMBIA
Jan. 2: BOSTON*
Jan. 6: HARTFORD*
Jan. 9: at UMBC*
Jan. 11: at Albany*
Jan. 15: BINGHAMTON*
Jan. 18: at Vermont*
Jan. 22: STONY BROOK*
Jan. 25: NEW HAMPSHIRE*
Jan. 29: at Binghamton*
Feb. 2: at Boston*
Feb. 6: UMBC*
Feb. 10: at Hartford*
Feb. 12: at Stony Brook*
Feb. 16: VERMONT*
Feb. 19: at Bracket Buster
Feb. 24: at New Hampshire*
Feb. 27: ALBANY*

Black Bears in Bracket Busters

The cast of ESPN's Bracket Busters just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This season, some 114 teams will participate in ESPN's annual nod to the low- and mid-major programs.

While the only games that receive the ESPN hype are those chosen for programming, it's still a nice marketing tool for all the programs that participate. Match-ups will be announced later.

UMaine has been selected as a road team for the event. Five other schools in America East will also participate: Boston University, Stony Brook, New Hampshire and Vermont. Boston U. and Stony Brook will have home games.

Speaking of Stony Brook, it was recently reported that stud forward Tommy Brenton will be out for an extended period with a dislocated knee. The Seawolves won the regular season title last year and Brenton, a junior, is one of America East's top rebounders.

Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiel has stocked his roster with solid players and the Seawolves will be good without Brenton. But make no mistake, Brenton will be missed. He's got a unique talent for being around the ball. He's an instigator.

TV time

UMaine's game at Stony Brook on Saturday, Feb. 12, will be televised by ESPNU at 11 a.m.

The Black Bears and Seawolves are expected to contend for the regular season America East title.

Frasier leads Scots

UMaine recruit Alasdair Fraser led the Scotland U18 team to a win over Portugal Monday. Fraser had 29 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Scotland finished 2-2 in pool play, but did not advance to the championship bracket of the Division B FIBA European Championships.

Bears get early commit

Forest Hills (N.Y.), Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) and current Monroe Junior College player Andre Armstrong, according to the New York Post, has given a verbal commitment to the University of Maine.

He's a 6-2 guard that UMaine has been following for quite some time. Armstrong was said to be considering New Hampshire and St. Francis (N.Y.) as well.

Mono for Murph

Tough break for Black Bears sophomore Murphy Burnatowski. After he had played his way onto the Canadian National team and was preparing for a two-week trip to Europe, he was diagnosed with mononucleosis and was forced to miss the trip.

See story.

Check out the great comments on Murphy from Canada coach Leo Rautins.

Noteworthy: Leo Rautins, coach of the Canadian National team, is a former Syracuse star and father of Andy Rautins, a more recent Syracuse star. The elder Rautins began his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota before transferring to Syracuse. As a freshman at Minnesota, Rautins and the Gophers played an intra-squad game at my high school. He was part of a recruiting class at Minnesota many still believe to be among the best in school history.