Pure ecstasy must be running through the Binghamton golf team.

The Bearcats were announced as the final seed in the NCAA Eastern Regional last Monday evening and, in that moment, all their commitment and dedication over the entire year was rewarded.

This year’s success was not about any one star player. The impressive depth of this team is the ultimate reason for their third NCAA bid in four years. A simple glance at the team’s statistics shows the balance. Only one shot separates the number one man from the number four man. Jeff Wolniewicz, Aaron Ungvarsky, Zach Vinal and Kevin Crawford have scoring averages of 75.2, 75.4, 75.8 and 76.3, respectively. If that’s not an equation for success, I don’t know what is.

After covering the Bearcats for two years, I have learned this about these guys: they are resilient, optimistic and they play as a cohesive team. Golf is an individual sport, but on this team, when one guy falters the next guy picks up the slack. And when they fall, they always get back up.

In 2004, the Bearcats fell hard in the spring and, as a result, missed out on a NCAA bid. This year, they practiced hard, and although they didn’t have a win to show for it by mid-April, they held their heads high and won two crucial tournaments at the Rhode Island Invitational and the New England Championship. And they didn’t just win those tournaments — they destroyed the competition by seven and 15 shots, respectively. Unfortunately, Rhode Island (22nd) and Army (26th), who were dominated by BU this season, were nationally ranked ahead of the Bearcats (27th) at the end of the season due to differences in strength of schedule.

But ranking, and more generally, the past, are insignificant now. Lake Nona Golf Course, in Orlando, Fla., where the NCAA Eastern Regional will take place May 18-20, awaits 27 teams. Only the top 10 will advance to NCAA Championships on May 31-June 3.

The Bearcats must be in top form to be successful next week, and hopefully they can come together and pull this one off.