ANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 29. 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 11
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ALUMNI
ison Schultz
Fans from all teams congregate in the Power and Light District in Kansas City, Mo., before the second round games of the NCAA Tournament last Friday. Kansas defeated Western Kentucky 64-57 on Friday and North Carolina 70-58 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Today they will play Michigan in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Kansas alums abound in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
LAKEN RAPIER
Iranier@kansan.com
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cowboys Stadium will be filled with basketball history this weekend when hosting the four remaining South Region teams: Kansas, Michigan, Florida and Florida Gulf Coast.
Fans from all over the country will travel to Arlington to cheer their teams on to victory. It's all about atmosphere when traveling and alumni are a large factor. There is power in numbers, especially when traveling. Rarely, if ever, do these four teams travel to Dallas. Next to students, alumni are the most influential fans when it comes to making noise and getting the crowd involved.
Luckily for the Jayhawks, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has the largest number of Kansas alumni in the entire country.
"There are 6,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex," Danny Lewis, director of alumni programs for the alumni association, said. "It's always been a good area for KU. Lots of students and alumni come from this area."
To accommodate the large number of alumni in the area, KUAA and the athletic department are co-sponsoring a pregame event at the Arlington Convention Center. Last year's Sweet Sixteen pregame event in St. Louis welcomed more than 4,000 KU fans.
"It's one big tailgate party inside," Lewis said. "We are expecting about the same kind of turnout this year, somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000 people. It should be huge."
The free event will start at 2:30 p.m. and end one hour before game time at 5:30, allowing those attending the game ample traveling time. Inside the 5,000-person ballroom will be 12 big screen TVs, food vendors, a cash bar and official KU fan shop.
The band and spirit squad will take the stage around 4:30 p.m. for the pep rally. Alumni Association President Kevin Corbett and Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger will welcome the crowd during the pep rally, along with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.
"There is no doubt KU alum living throughout Texas travel well."
Lewis said. "It should be a really great crowd."
The Michigan alumni could well outnumber the lajayhawk alumni this weekend. A large showing for the Wolverines could pose a great threat to Kansas as they travel from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., to Arlington.
The University of Michigan has more than 500,000 alumni around the world and a particularly strong following throughout Texas. Michigan's alumni association has multiple clubs across the country, but one of their strongest bases calls Dallas home.
"The club in the Dallas area is one of several really active ones." Bradley
Whitehouse, the senior communications coordinator for the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan , said via email. "As many as 200 alumni attend the regular game-watching parties that the Dallas club hosts for football and basketball."
This showed at yesterday's shoot around and media day, where a majority of people in attendance sported Michigan gear.
"Our alumni are known to travel to big games," Whitehouse said. "And with several thousand living in the Dallas area, there should be a lot of maize and blue in the stands on Friday."
Florida and Florida Gulf Coast fan bases will be significantly lopsided.
The Gators will have a large advantage over the Eagles when it comes to the crowd. Even though many in Cowboys Stadium will be cheering for the underdog, it will still be hard for Florida Gulf Coast to compete.
Texas is home to more than 10,000 University of Florida alumni, the fifth-largest state alumni base of the more than 45,000 registered alumni. A majority of Texas' Gator alumni, nearly 3,500, live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — more than any other city in Texas.
And although 62 percent of Florida's alumni reside in Florida, the alumni association and Gator Club are excited to have the opportunity to host a pre-game event at Buffalo
Wild Wings in Arlington.
"We have so many alumni living in the state that never get to see the Gators come to their state," Scott Francis, director of Broaden Gator Engagement, said in an email.
Despite not being considered one of the "blue bloods," Florida has a strong following and expects a strong showing in Jerry World tomorrow.
"The following for the team has been loyal and fantastic," Francis said. "Especially as an SEC school, which is more well known for its strength in football."
Florida Gulf Coast is at a huge disadvantage when it comes to traveling alumni. According to a map from Florida Gulf Coast's alumni association, the largest alumni base remains in Florida with 8,604 alumni. Despite Texas being home to only 48 alumni, Eagle alumni will be hosting a pregame party at Sherlock's Baker St. Pub and Grill in Arlington.
Jerry World may be a sea of blues tomorrow, but there is no doubt the alumni will have a huge effect on the atmosphere as a whole. Regardless of who they are rooting for, many alums exit Cowboy Stadium with a bad case of the blues.
- Edited by Madison Schultz