Ncaa Sinks Maine

An NCAA committee barred Maine from postseason hockey competition for a second year in a row and placed the university on probation for four years.

The penalties were imposed for rules violations that went on for a decade and involved more than half its the school’s programs.

The Committee on Infractions did not consider whether the Black Bears would be allowed to keep the national hockey championship they won three years ago when they used two players whose eligibility was questioned. That issue was expected to be addressed by the NCAA executive committee within two weeks.

In addition to imposing the probation, the Committee on Infractions also barred the university’s hockey team from TV and postseason play for a year and slashed scholarships in hockey, football, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s track and cross country.