---
---
Table of Contents
Homecoming History 2
Baton Twirling Alumna Returns 3
Royalty Tradition 4
Homcoming Parade 6
Nationwide Homcoming Events 7
KU Traditions 8
Retail Jayhawk 9
Football parking 9
Colorado Natives at KU 10
Alumni Excitement 11
Lawrence: Past and Present 12
Need to increase ticket sales spread homecoming to colleges
By Chris Hopkins Special to the Kansan
The year was 1911. The University of Illinois was running low on funds, and attendance at home football games, a key source of revenue, had been low. The same could be said for school spirit.
Then came the idea that the school could invite alumni to return to campus to attend a football game. They called it homecoming, and it would change autumns on campuses across the country.
Homecoming, out of these desperate beginnings, has become a key part of many college football programs.
The idea spread quickly. Kansas held its first homecoming the next year and, based on the success of the Illinois game, added 3,000 seats next to the football field.
A University alumni magazine invited former students to the game.
"The first homecoming at the University of Kansas will be celebrated Nov. 23, the day of the Missouri game," the announcement read. "Put that in your datebook now. You're expected."
The Jayhawks won that first homecoming game against Missouri, 12-3, but have
not fared as well since. Kansas has a 35- 45-5 record for homecoming games.
Much of that record can be attributed to Nebraska, against whom Kansas is 321-1 in homecoming games. Against all other teams, the record is a winning 3224-4.
From 1912 to 1959, all but two of the Jayhawks' homecoming football games alternated between Nebraska and Missouri. In the other two games, Kansas lost 13-0 to Oklahoma in 1940 and defeated Kansas State 27-0 in 1945.
K-State might be Kansas' favorite homecoming opponent. The Jayhawks have a perfect record against K-State in eight homecoming games.
The only break in the annual homecoming football games came in 1918, when a massive flu epidemic swept the nation.
The Spanish influenza originated in Fort Riley the previous spring, traveled to Europe with World War I soldiers and returned with them the next fall. Eventually it killed 30 million people worldwide.
This year, Kansas will play Colorado in the homecoming game tomorrow. Against the Buffalooes, Kansas is 2-4-1 in homecoming games and 19-35-3 overall.
Kansas first played Colorado in a homecoming game in 1960, winning 34-6. The Jayhawks later were forced to forfeit the match, as well as a season-ending win against Missouri, because a Kansas player accepted a ride on a private plane, which rendered him ineligible. Those are the only two games Kansas has forfeited.
HOMECOMING RECORD
HOMECORNING RECORD
All games: 35W, 45L, 5T
vs. Oklahoma: 2W, 2L
vs. Missouri: 12W, 9L, 3T
vs. Colorado: 2W, 4L, 1T
vs. Nebraska: 3W, 21L, 1T
vs. Iowa State: 7W, 6L
vs. Kansas State: 8W, 0L
vs. Oklahoma State: 1W, 3L
Source: Sports Information
Kansas has struggled against Colorado in recent years, going 1-9 in the last 10 games.
The single win was a big one, however. On their way to the Aloha Bowl in 1995, the Jayhawks upset the fourth-ranked Buffalooes 40-24 in Boulder, Colo.
Coach Terry Allen said he thought that, while the homecoming games have equal weight as other scheduled games, the game was important for the fans.
2 Homecoming
The Hill
Friday, October 23, 1998