They say fans will come out to watch a winning team. Apparently, the fans of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils didn’t get the memo. Nor has the student body of Boston University. The BU men’s basketball team has won 19 of 20 games, and with Sunday’s win in hostile Catamount Country, 80-70, the Terriers emerge tied atop the America East Conference standings.

But no one is watching.

A nearly unbeatable team ventured into opposing territory, among thunderous jeering from their yellow and green opponent, in an effort to represent the reputation of the BU faculty and students.

And their efforts went virtually unnoticed.

Such is the case week after week.

After 11 games at “The Roof” this season, the Terriers have averaged just 866 spectators a game. For those of you haven’t been to Case Gymnasium to see a game, “The Roof” is where the men’s and women’s basketball teams play their home games. With a capacity of 1,800, on average, only 48.1 percent of the seats are being filled.

Over the past three seasons, head coach Dennis Wolff and the Terriers have won a reputable 44 games while losing only eight in the America East Conference. In fact, two years ago the men’s basketball team earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament – making them one of the 65 best teams in America. Last year, they were one of only 62 teams that played in a conference championship game for an automatic bid to the Big Dance.

But where are the fans? They are getting tickets to watch a struggling men’s hockey team – a team whose popularity is driven by institution, legend and reputation. However gilded, BU Hockey history is just that – history. This season reveals a team in reconstruction, facing a dismal 8-14-6 record and the possibility of failing to make the Hockey East Tournament for the first time in school history.

I still encourage the BU faithful to get tickets to see the hockey team because God knows – they need the support. However, I offer this reminder: Your Sports Pass works for basketball games, too.

This weekend, my girlfriend and I decided to have a romantic weekend getaway in Burlington, Vt. right along Lake Champlain. And yes, we managed to squeeze in a little game at Patrick Gymnasium on the scenic campus of the University of Vermont.

In Burlington, television stations were describing the game as “the biggest home game in Vermont men’s basketball history.” The game had been sold out for weeks, with fans sitting in the aisles, twirling towels on a Sunday afternoon for a regular season men’s basketball tilt. I’d never seen anything like it – certainly not at “The Roof” that struggles to draw more than 800 fans on a weekend.

Approximately 3,228 packed themselves in the tight quarters. Clumsy lines to the gym entrance snaked through the lobby, interrupted by the noisy distribution of stickers, buttons and T-shirts.

I’ve never had a problem getting into “The Roof.” I’m lucky if there is someone there to tear my ticket.

The Vermont faithful were decked out in green and yellow, including one fan (unfortunately for us) that painted his entire round body in yellow (one has to applaud the dedication for lack of discretion). Chants of “U-V-M” exploded like geysers, growing in intensity before dying down, only to burst again. Patrick Gym was a real college basketball environment, which I have only seen one other time: at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of the two-time national champion Duke University Blue Devils. “The Roof” could compete, but it doesn’t – for simple lack of attendance and enthusiasm.

My girlfriend hadn’t been to a basketball game in her first three and a half years at Boston University, but now she loves to go and watch this team. BU basketball is played the way the game should be played: with passion, excitement and intensity. She discovered the infectious charisma of college basketball, and she regrets that it hadn’t been sooner. I challenge the student body of BU to make the discovery for yourself – you won’t regret it.

Forty Terriers, and the BU band, made the trip to Vermont to cheer on Boston University. We may have been a small minority, but we were just as loud and boisterous.

Remember the names Chaz Carr, Rashad Bell, Kevin Fitzgerald, Ryan Butt, Shaun Wynn, Jason Grochowalski, Kevin Gardner, Matt Turner, Daniel Daccarett, Pat Martin, Etienne Brower and Kevin Burton. We may not be Duke or Stanford, but who cares.

We are BU.

There are two more home games and then the America East Championships at Walter Brown Arena with a possible three more. Teams win games for themselves and the people they represent – parents, colleagues and fans. The men’s basketball team deserves an audience. This winning team deserves support – from you.

Adam Jupiter, a 2003 graduate of the College of Communication, covered the basketball teams for WTBU and is currently working for the New England Sports Network.