This is when fans of Cal State Bakersfield athletics say: “It was worth it after all!”

Ten years ago, the Roadrunners gave up a fine reputation as one of the best programs in NCAA Division II … and made the bold/scary/expensive decision to make the climb to Division I, where the big kids play.

That led to four seasons in transition, when the school was a neither/nor school ineligible for any NCAA tournaments or playoffs, and that led finally to Division I status in the summer of 2010 — which in basketball began with three seasons as an independent, which is no way to get ahead.

In 2013, Bakersfield joined the ever-changing Western Athletic Conference, and in the Roadrunners’ third year in the WAC they won the conference tournament, earning a place in the 2016 NCAA Tournament thanks to a three-pointer by Dedrick Basile with 0.2 seconds to play that gave them a 57-54 victory over New Mexico State in the WAC title game over the weekend.

And now? A trip to Oklahoma City and a No. 15 seed (that would be Bakersfield) versus a No. 2 seed Friday matchup in the West Regional against (gulp) Oklahoma.

However that turns out, Cal State Bakersfield this week will seize a place on the college basketball map — a status denied to programs in playing for championships in D2 or D3.

The school and the athletic department will get more national recognition this week than it has in the history of the school.

It already has begun. Even before Bakersfield’s team arrived in Oklahoma, USA Today ranked the school’s name and mascot, Rowdy the Roadrunner, No. 1 in the 68-team tournament. “Two words: Meep, meep!”

Bakersfield, city of, could use some positive attention. It may be the ninth-biggest city in California and 52nd-biggest in the country, with 375,000 people, but it is mostly known as an Interstate 5 bathroom break, and for oil wells, isolation, dust and oppressive heat.

“Nashville West” apparently is/was the city’s nickname, but it seems like a California city ought to aspire to more than being a regional version of the Country Music capital. (Merle Haggard and Buck Owens are Bakersfield natives.)

March Madness should help.

The men’s basketball tournament is such a big deal in American sports that scads of schools have made the jump from Division II pretty much based on getting to play in the D1 tournament and five days of fame.

Football may be a bigger sport, at the college level, but it is far, far more expensive than basketball, and only four teams reach the playoffs. All you need for hoops is a coach, a place to play and 12 guys — including a couple of good players — and you can aspire to the big tournament.

Bakersfield has a solid coach in Rod Barnes, who three times took Mississippi State to the NCAA Tournament. In this, his fifth year at Bakersfield, his team went 24-8 with wins over at least four former NCAA Tournament schools — New Mexico State, Seattle, Chicago State and Idaho.

The Roadrunners have a place to play, albeit a modest one, at the 3,500-capacity, on-campus Icardo Center, pretty much unchanged from their time in Division II, when I saw them play several times.

And they have some players, most of them transfers from junior college teams, the guys who power the nation’s less-endowed basketball programs.

Bakersfield has five guys who average at least 10 points per game, which shows nice balance. They are led by the starting center Aly Ahmed, a 6-foot-9 native of Egypt.

Now we find out what Bakersfield can do against elite competition.

The Roadrunners don’t have to win to attract attention. If they can hang around with Oklahoma for a half, it likely will mean significant TV exposure on CBS for the team and school … and probably for Rowdy the Roadrunner, too.