Gathered around their shiny new America East Conference championship trophy, the members of the Binghamton University men’s tennis team eagerly watched as ESPN News unveiled the NCAA men’s tennis bracket on Tuesday.

The Bearcats were riding high, to say the least. Only two days before they had fought their hearts out for the emotional victory over hated rival Maryland-Baltimore County in the title game, they were mere moments away from finding out which school they would be facing in the title tournament they dreamed of getting to all season. For nearly 45 minutes, the room was not once absent of joyful laughter or an ear-to-ear smile.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports certainly did its part to build up the suspense as they they slowly unveiled the 64 team bracket in sections of 16. The first quarter bracket was met with loud cheering by the squad as they were nothing short of elated to see they had been spared from playing the top team in the country, Virginia. Almost in unison, a few of the players yelled out, “Thank God we beat Fairleigh Dickinson,” the team that drew the Cavaliers. The Bearcats downed FDU 6-1 in New Jersey on April 5.

The unveiling of the next quarter bracket brought mixed emotions to the team. There was happiness in not drawing the defending champions, Georgia, but also a bit of amused disappointment in not drawing Hawaii.

“There goes a trip to Maui,” joked one Bearcat.

By this point, the suspense was nearly killing everyone in the room. The players were antsy, head coach Adam Cohen was pacing, and the athletic staff looked ready to leap out of their seats. Once again, the third section of the bracket featured no mention of the Bearcats.

“Did Binghamton even get in?” someone yelled out to a round of laughter.

After analyst Patrick McEnroe stopped babbling on about Ohio State, the Bearcats finally had their moment in the sun as the fourth, and final, piece of the bracket fell into place. And there they were, third team down on the list and going against Tulsa. Head coach Adam Cohen immediately began telling his squad everything he knew about the Golden Hurricane program, which was a surprisingly great deal of information. The players, still smiling to the point one had to wonder if the muscles in their faces ached, expressed some joking angst about going to Oklahoma instead of California or Florida.

“We all were hoping to go to California with the beaches, but it’s still warmer than Binghamton,” joked senior captain Faisal Mohamed.

Mohamed, who went 19-16 overall this season and has more than 140 career victories under his belt, will be playing in the tournament for the second time. Mohamed was a vital part of the 2004-05 squad that posted a school record of 21 wins and appeared in the first round of that season’s tournament. After failing to reach the national playoffs for two consecutive seasons, Mohamed was thrilled to make it back this time around.

“It feels really good. A great way to end my career,” said the captain. “I’m just really happy right now.”

Fellow seniors Alex Dobrin and Jon Bonnet will also be making their second career appearance in the NCAA tournament, but it is a pair of a freshmen who may have been the most vital in getting the Bearcats back to this point.

Sven Vloedgraven went 16-5 in duals this season, including two key victories in the AE tournament. The other fabulous freshman, Arnav Jain, posted an outstanding 16-2 record in duals on the season. In addition, he came back from a 5-3 deficit in the third set of his dual against UMBC to capture the AE title for the Bearcats. The comeback, which was punctuated by the fact he battled almost-crippling leg cramps during it, earned him the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player trophy. Jain was thrilled to get to the NCAAs in his first season but he was even happier for his senior teammates.

“[It was] good to do it for the guys who are graduating this year,” Jain said.

Tulsa (21-4) is the 11th ranked team in the country and the Conference USA champions.

“Obviously it’s gonna be a tough challenge,” Mohamed said. “Hopefully we can give them a tough time, make them sweat a little bit … [and] leave a mark on them, show them that we’re not just some walkover.”

Binghamton, making its fourth appearance in the tournament in the past six years, has lost twice to the No. 11 team and once to the No. 8 team in its tournament history. The Bearcats have never won a point in the NCAA tournament.

The match against Tulsa will take place May 10 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa. Denver will take on Oklahoma State in the region’s other matchup.