Prepping For The National Semi-Finals

After spending nearly two hours outdoors for their morning practice, the UMaine Black Bears finished their work in the fieldhouse. The countdown is on to national semi-final game in Cheney, Washington Saturday afternoon.

The Bears will leave for their game vs Eastern Washington University on Thursday at 5pm. That gives them a full day to adjust to the Pacific Time Zone. Gametime Saturday is 11am local time out there (2PM ET). The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Black Bear players and coaches say the early start time and the idea that they will play on red turf is no big deal. EKU calls their red turf 'the inferno'.

The players and coaches continue to talk about the CAA preseason coaches poll, where UMaine was picked to finish 8th, as the starting point for their underdog status. Maine won the CAA league title.

At NCAA postseason time, the Bears were selected as a #7 seed out of eight seeds. EKU is a #3 seed.

The FCS semi-final also includes South Dakota State vs North Dakota State. That game will be played in Fargo, ND on Friday night.

The winner of that meets the winner of UMaine-EKU for the national championship in Frisco, Texas on January 5th.

NOTE: Hear from UMaine players and coach Joe Harasymiak on Wednesday's 'Morning Pitch Show' at 6am on Sports Radio 92.9 The Ticket.