Area sports fans rallied around the Nicholls State University football team this fall as a reward for the Colonels newly found success.

The Nicholls football team played in front of stellar home crowds all season culminating with nearly 10,000 people showing up for the program’s first ever home Football Championship Subdivision home playoff game on Nov. 25 against South Dakota and it was a beautiful thing to see.

Now it’s time to show the same level of support for the Nicholls men’s and women’s basketball teams.

If you haven’t noticed, both teams are having success in the Southland Conference.

Entering Thursday’s games, the men (15-9 overall) were leading the conference at 9-2 in league play, while the women (10-12 overall) were eighth in the SLC at 5-6.

Both teams are gunning for the SLC Tournament in Katy, Texas, where the Top 8 men’s and women’s teams will battle it out for automatic berths in the NCAA tournament March 7-11 at the Merrell Center.

But we have a long way to go before the brackets for Katy are set.

Up next for both teams is a women’s and men’s doubleheader set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Broussard Court at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux against Houston Baptist.

If you haven’t been to check out the upgrades in Stopher Gym, which includes a remarkable refurbished floor, Saturday will be a great chance to do so.

After Saturday, the Nicholls men, led by second-year head coach Richie Riley, have home games left against Sam Houston State (Wednesday) and New Orleans (Feb. 24).

Riley has put together an exciting team to watch. Led by players like Roddy Peters, Tavon Saddler, Javaughn Powell, Lafayette Rutledge, Kimami Jackson, former E.D. White Catholic standout Kevin Johnson and Ryghe Lyons, the Colonels play a free-flowing offensive style and are one of the top scoring teams in the country.

The amount of skill and athleticism throughout the roster is something that truly needs to be seen.

The men’s team, having its best conference season since 1997-98, has conference title and conference tourney title aspirations and has gained some national attention as the team that is expected to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament.

The regular season race will come down to the wire and anything can happen during a conference tournament, but the Colonels are in great shape to do lots of damage the rest of the way.

As for the Nicholls women, led by 10th-year head coach DoBee Plaisance, they are in a fight to make it to Katy with the fifth-ninth place teams all bunched up and have put together a two-game winning streak. After Saturday the women have home games left against McNeese (Feb. 21), New Orleans (Feb. 24) and Northwestern State (Feb. 28).

Raceland native and former Vandebilt Catholic star Cassidy Barrios has led the women’s team this season with 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and she has gotten support from players like Tykeria Williams, Tia Charles, Marina Lilly, Destiny Collins and Airi Hamilton.

I am expecting a fun ride toward the finish for both teams and local fans should converge on Stopher Gym for as many home games as possible during these final three weeks of the regular season to root on the Nicholls teams as they make their pushes toward Katy.

These Colonels truly deserve your support.

-- Staff Writer Kelly McElroy can be reached at 857-2211 or at kelly.mcelroy@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @KMacCourier.