Ten teams that won at least 15 games last season — including four that won at least 20 — will be featured on the University of Maine men’s basketball team’s non-conference schedule this season.
The Black Bears, coached by Chris Markwood, are coming off a memorable 2024-25 campaign in which they won their first America East playoff game since 2005 and made their first appearance in an America East championship game since 2004.
Their 57-42 win over defending champ Vermont in the semifinals snapped a 30-game losing streak at the hands of the Catamounts.
UMaine finished with a 20-14 record.
UMaine will have just four non-conference home games, with the remaining 11 either being on the road or in a neutral tournament setting.
The opponents who won at least 20 games a year ago are Miami-Ohio (25-9), American University (22-13), George Washington University (21-13) and Quinnipiac (20-13).
American won the Patriot League championship before losing to Mount St. Mary’s in the First Four phase of the NCAA Tournament.
George Washington played in the inaugural 16-team College Basketball Crown tournament for teams that didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Miami and Quinnipiac lost in their conference tournaments.
UMaine returns eight players but only one starter and just two players who averaged more than 14 minutes of playing time per game a year ago. They have seven newcomers including Newport’s Ace Flagg and Old Town’s Emmitt Byther.
The Black Bears will open the season at George Washington on Nov. 3 before going to Stony Brook (8-24 last season) five days later and to Rutgers (15-17) two days after that.
The Black Bears sandwich home games against Quinnipiac on Nov. 16 and Brown (14-13) on Nov. 23 around a Nov. 19 trip to Merrimack (18-15).
The November schedule closes out with a three-day tournament at American University where UMaine will play the host school on Nov. 28, Longwood (18-14) the next day and Siena (14-18) on the final day.
The December schedule begins with a trip to Ohio for games against Ohio University (16-16) and Miami on Dec. 3 and Dec. 6. Four days later, they travel to take on Boston University (16-16).
The Black Bears will close out December with a home game against Canisius (3-28) on Dec. 13, a game at Drexel (18-15) eight days later and a home game against in-state rival UMaine Fort Kent (12-14) on Dec. 30. UMFK is the only non-NCAA Division I team on the schedule.
UMaine played six of the opponents on their non-conference schedule a year ago and five of six games were decided by five points or less. Only the 98-47 win over UMFK was decisive.
UMaine beat Brown (69-67) and Canisius (84-79) and lost to Quinipiac (58-55), Stony Brook (74-72) and Boston University (59-56).
“It’s going to be a really challenging schedule,” said Markwood, who is starting his fourth season on the UMaine bench. “There aren’t any huge names but a lot of the teams are going to be really good.”
He said there won’t be any easy games and he expects a lot of close “50-50” games.
He feels the schedule will prepare his team well for their America East schedule.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of returning players on the UMaine roster. It has been updated.