The University of Maine’s men’s hockey team had been constantly ranked in the top 20 in the weekly United States College Hockey Online poll.
But the Black Bears’ 18-14-3 overall record last season, including a 12-11-1 Hockey East record, and their 4-5-1 finish over their last 10 games dropped them out of the top 20 in the season-ending poll.
UMaine had earned back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances the previous two years.
And after being picked seventh among 11 teams in the Hockey East preseason coaches poll, the Black Bears find themselves starting the 2026-27 campaign nowhere near the top 20 in the USCHO’s first poll of the season.
UMaine received nine points in the poll, which involved 50 voters from among coaches and media professionals.
That placed them 31st among the nation’s 64 Division I programs.
Reigning NCAA champ Denver is the preseason favorite to repeat with Michigan, Michigan State, North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth rounding out the top five.
Their schedule includes 17 games against teams ranked in the top 20, including three apiece against Hockey East rivals Providence, which is ranked ninth in the poll, and Boston University, ranked 16th.
They will play two apiece against Quinnipiac (7th), UMass (10th), Boston College (12th), UConn (15th) and defending Hockey East tournament champ Merrimack (20th).
They will play one against Cornell (13th) at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 28.
They will also play two apiece teams that received votes but didn’t crack the top 20: Miami University of Ohio, Northeastern and New Hampshire.
UMaine will open the season against Atlantic Hockey America team Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Oct. 2-3 before playing its first home series against Quinnipiac the following weekend.
UMaine sixth-year head coach Ben Barr and his coaching staff have brought in 15 newcomers to help fill the void left by the departure of its top four scorers and three of its six regulars on the blue line.