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November 12, 2007
Were my eyes playing tricks on me Sunday night, or did I really see footage of students skipping a basketball game to camp out for Kansas University football tickets?I never thought I'd see the day that happened, but it's fantastic. It's great to see that KU students aren't letting this unbelievable season pass them by. They're firmly on the bandwagon, and they've been there since day one when they packed Memorial Stadium in blue for the season-opener.The current KU students are lucky to see so much quality football, and they're not taking that for granted.The odds are good that you watched a lot of bad football if you graduated from KU during the past 50 years.KU mustered a 16-29 record (1998-2001) during my four years as an undergrad, and the lone marquee victory was Oct. 24, 1998 in a Homecoming upset of No. 17 Colorado, 33-17. The Jayhawks were 7-25 in Big 12 Conference games during that time.Throw in the 2-10 season (0-8 Big 12) in 2002 and the 6-7 campaign (3-5 Big 12) in 2003 during my grad school years, and that's 24-46 mark during six years. For you math majors (I needed a calculator for this), that's a .342 winning percentage. Not good.That's what makes this year so much more exciting. Kansas is 10-0 for the first time since 1899 when Fielding H. Yost was the coach and James Naismith was leading the basketball program. The Jayhawks have won 10 games in a year for just the fourth time in program history (They've also had four 10-loss seasons).Meanwhile, the Jayhawks are 6-0 in the Big 12 and in first place in the North Division. They're ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls and No. 3 in the BCS rankings.This makes my college days seem so long ago.Then again, these aren't your recent graduate's Jayhawks. Or your father's. Or your grandfather's.If anything, they're your great-grandfather's Jayhawks.The Class of 2008 will become just the ninth graduating class in the last half-century to walk down Campanile Hill having watched above-.500 football during their four years of college.As of today, the Class of 2008's four-year seniors own a 27-18 record - a 60-percent victory rate - with three or four games to go, depending on if KU makes it to the Big 12 Conference title game.To put this in a little more perspective, including this year's seniors, only 13 four-year graduating classes ever have witnessed 27 or more wins during their college careers at Kansas. Of those, 11 occurred prior to 1950. The most recent group to see this many victories during a four-year span was in school during the 1992-1995 seasons when the Jayhawks won 29 games. You have to go back to the 1946-1949 seasons to find the next group that witnessed this much success (27-11-3 during that span).The Jayhawks only have won 30 or more games during a four-year span four times in history. They were 30-6-2 from 1905-1908, 30-7-3 from 1903-1906, 30-9-1 from 1902-1905 and 32-6 from 1896-1899.With a few games left on the schedule, the current seniors have a good shot at joining the exclusive 30-win club.A few years ago the KU basketball team adopted the slogan "Old School" and focused four-year senior standouts Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich's throwback style of play - winning with hustle, heart and fundamentals. Perhaps the Kansas football team should use that slogan, too, because we're witnessing the return to the roots of Jayhawk football. With a program that has the fundamentals in place to win for years to come, we're in position to see history repeat itself. If that happens, KU's juniors, sophomores, freshmen and future students are in store for a lot more wins - and that campout list will become awfully long.
Comments
whaskin (anonymous) says...
Jayhawk football from '57 to '61 was pretty good! We went 5-0 over Neb. those years! We won the conference in 1960, but had it stripped from us when we had to forfeit games to Colorado and Mu. I can't remember "why" on the forfeits. What I do remember is we considered ourselves the conference champs as we tore the goalposts down in Columbia! Front page picture in the Star. (That meant we'd finally beaten Oklahoma, who ruled for years.)
During those four years, football under Jack Mitchell was about as exciting as it could get, naturally, excluding our fab 2007 team!! What a great bunch of guys we have this year...they remind me of Hadl, McClinton, Peppercorn, etc. ....smart, talented, hard-working...men of character! What a great coaching staff we have, starting at the top!
"One game at a time" is the way it must be....Iowa State has the former Texas Defensive head coach as it's coach now and they are much improved...we need to keep our eyes focused on OUR next "goal"...let K-State take care of those beloved Tigers. They've always been fun to pick on 'cause some years, they've been the only ones we could pick on! :)
Rock Chalk!
November 12, 2007 at 4:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
actorman (anonymous) says...
I believe KU had to forfeit those 1960 game because of using an ineligible player (Burt Coan?).
I hate Mizzou with a passion, but I do not want to see KU get screwed out of a chance to play for the National Championship, so (gritting my teeth) I want to see Mizzou beat KSU and stay in the top 5. Same goes for OU. It's important that they be ranked as high as possible when KU beats them.
November 12, 2007 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oldalum (anonymous) says...
Which is precisely, I suspect, why we keep getting encouraging messages from Oklahoma fans on the message boards. They want us to be as high as possible because they think they can beat us in the Big XII championship game.
November 12, 2007 at 5:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kik1958 (anonymous) says...
Well, Jayhawk football was so bad during the '76-80 campaigns that the KU band director invited many of us back in 1981 to go to the bowl game. When Nolan Cromwell went down, the program went with it.
Anyone remember the 1-10 season when we only beat UCLA. The band halftime show was the Wizard of OZ!!!!
November 12, 2007 at 5:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hawk_bred20 (anonymous) says...
As a fifth year senior, I feel I've seen a lot of this come full circle. From the win against K-State, to finally beating Nebraska, to the heartbreaking "dollar signs" game, I've seen a lot in four years of football at KU.
My one fear is that this won't continue...I just pray that we can keep the program moving forward and be one of those rare schools that is a power in both sports! I think we can but time will tell.
November 12, 2007 at 7:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
okjhok (anonymous) says...
Don't think you've got anything to worry about there mr. hawk_bred20. The instances you spoke of that occurred over the past few years were due to one-hit-wonder type scenarios, like bringing in JUCO kids and having a few seniors step up. That's not the case any more. The current group is a direct result of solid recruiting and development. The team is also young. Looks to me like KU and MU will be battling for the north for the next few years (maybe throw in CU, who's very young and talented.)
November 13, 2007 at 8:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
100 (anonymous) says...
Great job, Seniors. Enough off field gossip, let's talk about something that matters: The Cyclones. It is time to begin making plans for Saturday KU fans. If you don't have tickets to the game yet, there will be plenty of room on the hill. Wear BLUE!!! I repeat, wear blue!!! no red!!! As for the game, Iowa State is for real -- a truly good football team, with a deceiving record -- they've already shocked two of our big wins, Colorado and K-State. Let's keep in mind that Colorado and K-State beat Oklahoma and Texas (on the road by 21). Every ounce of our rooting energy needs to be put into that game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. KU football players: You have so much to be proud of -- across the nation, we are so proud of you guys! Win or lose on Saturday, make sure to shake Iowa State's hands -- they are great guys, just like you, and a hard working group to boot. respect the cyclones! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!
November 13, 2007 at 11:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )