The Basics

Location: Boston, Mass.

Colors: Scarlet and White.

Nickname: Terriers

Nickname conjures up: Annoying yapping dogs, the idea that every team in the America East has a canine nickname.

Mascot: Rhett, a Boston terrier.

Reputation: The largest, most well-known and athletically successful school in the America East. Having a lot of guys that won the Olympic hockey gold medal in 1980.

Notable alumni: Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Stern, Tipper Gore and a whole lot of hockey players.

The dirt

We hate them because: They win at pretty much everything, yet their students only care about hockey. They can’t get anyone excited about their basketball team even though their team is the likely favorite this season. To them, we will always be the ‘other’ BU.

They rule in: They have five AE men’s basketball championships (though only one since 1996), two women’s basketball titles, 10 men’s and 15 women’s cross country titles, six field hockey titles (including the last two), the last two women’s golf titles, six women’s lacrosse titles (including five in the last six seasons), six men’s soccer titles, four women’s soccer titles, six softball championships, two men and four women’s swimming and diving titles, four men’s tennis titles, a whopping 17 women’s tennis titles in the past 18 years and nine indoor women’s track titles. So they pretty much rule in everything they field a sport in. And keep in mind these numbers are all since 1990. And also they’re really good at hockey.

When can you root for them: When they team up with guys from the University of Minnesota to form a hockey team and beat the Russians. But no other circumstances. And the Russians have to be communists.

Professional comparison: New York Yankees, but can a Boston team be compared to the Evil Empire? I think so. From the total domination, the history and the insufferable fan base, the Terriers and Yankees are a match made in heaven, except of course for the fact that the majority of Boston students hate the Yankees.

The history

Brag about: Jason Stenta’s save in last year’s men’s soccer semifinals, sending the Bearcats to the AE championship and the Terriers home, women’s basketball knocking the Terriers out of the AE tournament in last season’s first round and the fact that we may never have had a football team, but at least it wasn’t ripped from us like Boston’s was in 1997.

Cringe when they mention: Rallying back from two 12-point deficits to knock Binghamton out of the AE men’s basketball tournament last season, the fact that to most of the country they are the real BU and their hockey team.

Names to remember for 2007 to 2008: Corey Lowe and Tyler Morris, men’s basketball; Jenny Martin and Sarah Morton, women’s lacrosse; Francis Whu and Vanessa Steiner, women’s tennis.

Next chance to see them on campus: Oct. 27 swimming and diving home opener.

Bottom line: Right up there with Albany as our biggest rivals, because of their history, success and name recognition, any victory over them is huge. They’re going to have a very good men’s basketball team this season, and beating them would be very big for our program. The Terriers are, however, very important to the conference. They give the conference name recognition that younger schools like Binghamton lack.