‘For we must consider that this tournament must be held on a city upon a hill. The eyes of all Bearcats, Wildcats and Great Danes are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our tournament in this work we have undertaken and cause them to withdraw the present support ‘ We shall shame the faces of many of the conferences’ worthy servants and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us until we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.’

– ‘Terrier Upon a Hill’

Unknown author

OK, maybe channeling Puritan and Beantown founder John Winthrop isn’t the best way to start a column about a basketball tournament, but the parallels are striking.

Boston University is by far the most decorated team remaining in the America East. Despite Vermont’s recent dominance, Boston holds five tournament championships. When Drexel, Northeastern and Delaware fled the conference in recent years, Boston stayed behind ‘ remaining a relic of past AE glory. The school is one of two private schools in the conference, resides in the largest city of any conference team and has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any AE school.

They are the most well-known school in the AE and the highest ranked by U.S. News and World Report. To say that Boston University sits on a hill above the rest of the conference is no stretch.

And while New Englanders have cool accents, make great chowda and hold some fine tea parties, one thing they don’t do is support their basketball team.

We’ve all seen ‘Miracle’ Jimmy Craig, Mike Eruzione, Jack O’Callahan ‘ all those guys played hockey at the ‘other’ BU (Boston). That’s what the school is known for ‘ that’s what people support. Not the mid-major basketball team that consistently chokes in the first round of the AE tournament; it’s about the hockey for them.

And now this season, for the first time since 2004, the tournament shifts from the shores of the mighty Susquehanna and back to the banks of the River Charles, and many wonder if this is a good idea.

The conference has to be more than a little worried about fan turnout at the 6,300-seat Agganis Arena ‘ an arena primarily used to host the aforementioned Terrier ice hockey squad. Boston finished seventh in the AE in home attendance, averaging just 1,252 fans per game, playing most of those games at much smaller Case Gymnasium. Compare that number with the top two teams, SUNY rivals Binghamton and Albany, who average 3,206 and 3,175, respectively, and there might be cause for concern.

The tournament likely won’t be the roaring success it has been at Binghamton for the past few years, but as we at Pipe Dream always say, ‘If you hold it, they will come.’

And they might not be Boston fans, but expect a large contingency of fans from Binghamton, Vermont and Albany to be on hand at Agganis this weekend.

Vermont’s rabid fan section has rivaled the BU Zoo in recent years at the Events Center, making the Bearcat home crowd feel stupid as the Catamounts bounced Binghamton from two consecutive home tournaments. Look for Albany’s always enthusiastic, sometimes offensive fan base to make the trip, too, hoping to see their Danes reach the national spotlight again.

So Boston fans might not sell out every basketball game, but that won’t matter at this tournament. The AE has some of the most dedicated fans in the country, fans that would give anything to see their teams get one chance at glory like Albany had last year or Vermont had in years before.

Oh, the fans will come to the city on the hill, just don’t expect it to be a sea of Terrier red. There’ll be Bearcats and Catamounts and Hawks ‘ oh my.

And by the end of the weekend you’ll likely have a different set of fans singing, ‘I love that dirty water, oh Boston you’re my home!’