To say they were significant losses might be an understatement.

Bates, Bowdoin and the University of Southern Maine’s women’s basketball teams all lost critical aspects of their respective programs, but don’t expect that to alter the outlook for three of the nation’s top Division III squads. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.

“We’re fortunate in the state of Maine to have so many good quality programs,” said Bates coach Jim Murphy. “Nobody rebuilds, they just reload. It’s amazing.”

In the D3Hoop.com preseason poll, Bowdoin was ranked second in the Top 25 while USM was sixth. Bates didn’t make the list but was second among squads receiving votes. In the USA Today/ESPN preseason Top 25, USM was third followed by Bowdoin in fourth. Bates was 25th.

While all three teams can be pleased by the early polls, like any politician, the coaches put little stock in them right now.

“Obviously the polls have us ranked high,” said USM coach Gary Fifield. “That’s a great honor but the preseason polls are really showing a respect for the history of the program.”

All three squads have recent history to boast about. Along with the University of Maine-Farmington and Maine Maritime, each earned bids to the NCAA Tournament last year. Bates, Bowdoin and USM have their sites set on a return trip, but know that’s a long way off as the season begins Friday night.

“We realize how hard it is to do what we’ve done the last six years,” said Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper, whose club has reached the Elite Eight five years straight and won six consecutive NESCAC titles. “The stars have to come into alignment, and it really is just a long process. Mature teams now that it doesn’t matter what you say or even what you do in November and December. It matters how you play at the end. You have to have a little luck. There’s so many different factors. So we’re real respectful of the process.”

The first order of business for all three teams is to fill the holes left by key players. USM graduated Megan Myles and also lost Katie Frost and Donna Cowing. Bowdoin graduated Justine Pouravelis. Bates suffered the most unexpected loss when Meg Coffin injured her knee in soccer, costing her the basketball season.

“When you lose a NESCAC Player of the Year and an All-American, that’s going to hurt,” said Murphy. “We’re still going to be fine, I think. I think any plus is that it happened before we started. We haven’t had her, and we’re not going to have her.”

The Bobcats return all-conference players Matia Kostakis and Sarah Barton and have four promising newcomers in Teal Carroll, Kellie Goodrich, Danielle Schaeffers and Lauren Yanofsky.

“I think we can be pretty good,” said Murphy, whose club went 19-9 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. “I think it’s going to take some time because we are going to be relying on four first-year players, but by the time conference play starts in mid-January, the potential is there to be pretty good.”

Coffin averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds last year. Kostakis had 12.6 points and 7.2 rebounds while Barton had 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.1 steals. The junior guard was a D3Hoops.com fourth team preseason All-American selection.

“I think everybody’s going to have to fill in,” said Murphy of replacing Coffin. “On the rebounding side of it, there were times last year we relied too much on Meg to grab every rebound. I think everybody’s going to have to rebound throughout the season.”

Bowdoin lost Pouravelis, the former McAuley star, who was a key spark offensively and on the boards.

“I think it’s one of those teams where we can definitely replace Justine’s statistics and do better in some areas, particularly scoring, but she had such confidence in this team and such belief in this team,” said Pemper, whose team finished 27-3 and lost to USM in the regional final. “That’s what we have to replace. I think we can, but it’s going to have to come from people who haven’t necessarily shown that before.”

The Polar Bears, boasting a New England-record 70 straight home wins and the longest streak by any team in the history of the D3Hoops.com poll with 75 straight weeks in the top 10, still have Eileen Flaherty. The senior forward was a first team All-American pick. She averaged 16.7 points and 6.4 rebounds. Bowdoin also returns Julia Loonin (9.6 points per game), Marissa Berne (10.9 ppg) and Jill Anelauskas (10.3 ppg). Pemper will actually have three seniors in her starting lineup, a luxury she’s never had at Bowdoin in her eight seasons.

“I think we definitely have the personnel, the balance and the depth, if we stay healthy, to have a really good season,” said Pemper. “I feel the same way this year as I have the last six years. We’ve lost great players in the past and continued to do well.”

The Huskies graduated Myles, her versatility and 13.2 points and 5 rebounds. Frost and Cowing were both regular contributors as well, averaging 16 points between them.

“That’s a huge loss,” said Fifield of Myles, who also lost senior Shannon Kynoch to a knee injury last week. “Her ability to read the game, understand the game and make everybody around her better, you don’t replace that. Players with that kind of understanding of the game don’t coming through the door everyday.”

USM still has plenty of talent and depth back from a team that went 32-2 last year and lost in the NCAA Division III championship game. Ashley Marble leads that list and is a first team All-American preseason selection. She led the Huskies with 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds.

“Ashley is an tremendously athletic player who works hard at both ends of the court,” said Fifield. “She approaches the game with intensity and aggressiveness and I expect her to be one of the leaders for us again this season.”

The Huskies also return senior guard Katie Sibley. The former Boothbay guard averaged 6.5 points and 4.2 assists. Fellow seniors Lindsey Welch and Lauren Samuelson take on larger roles as will former Gray-New Gloucester guard Dawn Ross. USM also brings in promising talent like Mountain Valley’s Kristen Arsenault and Skowhegan’s Nicole Paradis.

“Compared to the last two seasons, this team doesn’t have the experience,” said Fifield. “Last year, we returned all starters and the year before, we had mostly all starters. This team might be deeper in some spots and might be a little bigger and a little more athletic, but the big thing we’re lacking, other than some key people like Sibley and Marble, is the experience.”