2021 Spring Schedule

ORONO, Maine -- Maine Football has announced its Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) schedule for the 2021 spring season, which includes a six-game slate beginning on Saturday, March 6 and running through Saturday, April 17.

The CAA also introduced a new, divisional format for the 2021 spring season. The North Division will include seven teams - Maine, UAlbany, Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, and Villanova. The South Division will be made up of four teams - Elon, James Madison, Richmond, and William & Mary. Teams in the North will face each other once while teams in the South will meet twice. Towson announced on Oct. 19 that it would not compete during the 2021 spring season.

The Black Bears open the 2021 spring slate on March 6 with a trip to Delaware. The contest will mark Maine's first trip to the Blue Hen state since 2016. The two teams last clashed in a 2017 meeting held at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, Maine. Maine's home opener is set for Saturday, March 13 when the Black Bears welcome UAlbany to Alfond Stadium. Maine will enter the contest with a five-game win streak against the Great Danes, including a 47-31 triumph a year ago in Albany. Maine returns to the road on Saturday, March 20 where it travel to take on Stony Brook. The Black Bears will be looking for their second consecutive victory at Stony Brook after defeating the Seawolves, 27-21, in their last visit to Long Island.

Following the bye week, Maine is back in action at home when it hosts Villanova on Saturday, April 3. The game will mark the 24th overall meeting between the two programs, who have split each of the past three head-to-head showdowns. Maine closes out its regular season road schedule on Saturday, April 10 with a trip to Rhode Island. Maine has won each of its last 13 meetings, and 18 of the last 19, against the Rams. The Black Bears have won six-straight road games in Rhode Island.

Maine closes out its regular season slate on Saturday, April 17 when it hosts New Hampshire in the 109th showdown for the coveted Brice-Cowell musket. Maine defeated the Wildcats, 35-7, in New Hampshire's last trip to Orono in 2018.

"Our football family is extremely excited for the opportunity to compete for a championship in the coming months," said head coach Nick Charlton. "Since last July's postponement, our players and staff have looked to play a competitive schedule that also will allow for a viable turnaround prior to fall of 2021. Currently half way through our fall ball practices, with our first scrimmage this Saturday (Oct. 31), our team is competing and now working towards a major Division-I season. Playing in the best FCS conference in the country, pursuing potential non-conference matchups, and with a legitimate playoff opportunity at stake, we promise Black Bear Nation we will be ready to compete this spring."

Each team will have a bye week in the schedule, which could provide flexibility to make up games postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic if necessary.

The CAA team with the best overall conference record will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivison Playoffs. Should the divisional champions finish with the same conference record, a tie-breaking procedure will be used to determine the automatic qualifier.

The NCAA FCS Championship Playoffs will feature 16 teams with 11 automatic qualifiers and five at-large berths. The playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, April 24 with a champion being crowned in Frisco, Texas on March 14, 15, or 16.

Each institution has the option of adding up to two additional non-conference games to their schedule. Institutions are able to schedule "non-conference" games against other conference members, but those games would not count towards the conference standings and the outcome would not be used in the tiebreaking procedures. Based on NCAA guidelines, teams are allowed to begin non-conference competition as early as Jan. 23.

Should Maine State Center for Disease Control and University of Maine System guidelines change, stay tuned to GoBlackBears.com for future fan attendance and ticket information.
 

2021 CAA Spring Schedule

Saturday, March 6	at Delaware
Saturday, March 13	vs. UAlbany
Saturday, March 20	at Stony Brook
Saturday, April 3	vs. Villanova
Saturday, April 10	at Rhode Island
Saturday, April 17	vs. New Hampshire

-UMaine-