Binghamton University’s men’s basketball team will be playing for the America East crown this Saturday. The game will be a landmark in the school’s history, and, no matter the outcome of the game, a tribute to the program’s growth over the years.

It will mark the first time the team has played in the AE conference finals as well as the first time that a Binghamton University sporting event will be televised nationally.

The contest will also offer the Bearcats an opportunity to “dance” in the NCAA Tournament, since NCAA conference champions receive automatic bids to the highly coveted post-season competition.

“We’re just trying to repay the fans for everything they’ve done,” said senior forward Jaan Montgomery, the only player on the team who has been at Binghamton for four years. “To be able to win a semi-final game away [at Albany this past Sunday against New Hampshire] in front of so many fans, it was spectacular — something that I’ll definitely remember forever.”

As for playing on ESPN 2 this Saturday, junior guard David Fine had this to offer:

“We’re making history. Most of our games are only televised locally, so being on national TV gives us a chance to show how good we really are to the whole country rather than to just the area.”

The players aren’t the only BU associates excited about the prospect of playing in front of millions of viewers. “A byproduct of getting to this point in the season is that it allows us to get some terrific national exposure for the University,” explained Joel Thirer, the director of health, physical education and athletics for the school, who was especially excited about the Bearcats playing immediately before a major conference tournament game which millions of people will be watching on ESPN 2. “Academically, Binghamton has gotten all sorts of kudos over the years. But we’ve never had this type of positive publicity brought to the school to such a broad audience.”

It has been well-documented that both Thirer and University President Lois DeFleur believe in promotion for BU, at least in part, through athletics. DeFluer added, “It’s great that we will now also receive additional recognition [to our quality of students and academic programs] for our winning basketball team.”

Jason Siegel, the school’s senior associate director of athletics, graduated from Binghamton in 1990. As a student, Siegel was the announcer for the basketball games, which were held at the West Gym, before there was an Events Center. Siegel has been able to see firsthand the school’s transformation from a small Division three program to a recently thriving Division I program. “I wasn’t usually announcing to too many people,” he said. “The community wasn’t involved. There weren’t any advertisements sold. There weren’t any corporations bringing groups. There weren’t any Boys and Girls Clubs bringing groups. We have all that now.”

Siegel also spoke of the increased opportunities that come with a winning ball club. “We usually made phone calls to corporations,” he said. “Now the phone calls are coming to us.”

The Bearcats’ successful season has also proved to be invaluable for uniting the community with the University, according to Thirer. “You can’t go anywhere in town without people coming up to you saying that this is great for the community,” he said. “When I first got here in 1989, this wasn’t a college town. This was a town with a college in it. I have seen a steady progression where the town has really come to grow their appreciation for the University.”

Even if the Bearcats do not emerge victorious against UMBC in the America East Championship game, they will continue their magical season in the N.I.T. This postseason tournament is held at Madison Square Garden (a.k.a. the world’s most famous arena), has its games televised nationally and includes teams from the best sports conferences in the country.

Clearly, with the position the school is in, it is not exactly the case of first place getting a Cadillac Eldorado and second place getting a set of steak knives. A conference title/NCAA Tournament bid is preferred to conference runner-up/a spot in the N.I.T., though, as head men’s basketball coach Kevin Broadus said, “Win or lose, it won’t make or break our season … either way we will still be playing in the postseason.”

But enough about losing. What would a win on Saturday mean, especially for the University which is trying so hard to brand its name nationally?

Touching on what kind of attention a winning basketball program can bring to a school, Broadus reflected on his days as an assistant coach at Georgetown, one of the nation’s elite basketball schools. “We had just two media outlets when I got there,” he said. “When I left [after reaching the Final Four], it was the whole country.”

Thirer added, “Even if we’re not in the final four, our banner will be in that building [in which the final four will be held]. For me, it’s a terrific feeling to have reached that level of recognition among our peer institutions.”

The Bearcats will strive to start what will hopefully be a new trend of NCAA Tournament bids and conference titles for the school this Saturday at the Events Center at 11 a.m.