In the upcoming weekends, the Binghamton University men’s and women’s basketball teams will be teaming up to take on a different kind of opponent. During the men’s game tomorrow night against New Hampshire and the women’s game on Feb. 12 against Vermont, the teams will participate in the nationwide program Coaches vs. Cancer in the hopes of raising money for the fight against the disease that is the second-most common cause of death in the United States.

Since its start in 1993 as a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Coaches vs. Cancer has raised close to $50 million. According to the program’s mission statement, Coaches vs. Cancer aims to “[leverage] the personal experiences, community leadership and professional excellence of basketball coaches nationwide to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living through year-round awareness efforts, fundraising activities and advocacy programs.” Today, more than 2,000 coaches from colleges across the nation and throughout Divisions I, II and III have joined the effort and involved themselves in the program. This will be BU’s sixth year participating in the event.

“We’re definitely excited to have the event going on,” said Binghamton women’s basketball head coach Nicole Scholl. “Obviously, cancer is something that has affected probably each and every one of us at some point in time in our lives, whether it be friends, family … Anything that we can do to help support [the cause] and help raise money to fight for the cause is just something we’re interested in doing.”

With Coaches vs. Cancer set to come to the Events Center, Scholl and interim head coach of the men’s team, Mark Macon, have pledged to make a donation based on the total number of points their teams score in their respective games. Fans can get involved in the cause by making pledges of their own based on the number of 3-pointers the teams make in each of the games.

The women’s game against Vermont will include a special “Pink Out” in honor of the event. The Bearcats are expected to break out specialized pink uniforms for the occasion and fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink along with them to support the cause. The women’s team remains undefeated this season in games played at the Events Center, now boasting the program’s best home record in the venue’s history, and the game against the Catamounts marks the chance for the Bearcats to extend the streak to a perfect 10-0. A free pink T-shirt will be given out to the game’s first 2,000 fans.

The men’s game is set to tip-off against New Hampshire at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Events Center and the women are scheduled to face Vermont the following weekend, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m.