The Kansas Jayhawks have always been an interesting team to watch.  And at 5-1 this year, the trend will keep on rolling.   I’m sure that this team will be in the thick of things come March Madness and as a Jayhawks fan, one should expect nothing less.

From the inventor of all of basketball to Wilt Chamberlain, to a hippie in white hair, there are hundreds of reasons a person could choose to follow the Jayhawks.  I however, have to decided to slim it down some.

Here are 8 reasons to follow Kansas hoops right now.

1.  The Inventor of the Game - James Naismith

As many of you know, James Naismith was in the inventor of the sport of basketball, but many of you probably didn’t know that he was also the first head coach and founder of Kansas Basketball.  How about that?

2.  An Incredible Track Record

From Wikipedia:

The program has enjoyed considerable national success, having been selected Helms Foundation National Champions in 1922 and 1923, winning NCAA national championships in 1952, 1988, and 2008, playing in 13 Final Fours, and being regularly ranked in the AP Top 25 college basketball poll. Kansas ranks third all-time in NCAA Division I (behind Kentucky and North Carolina) with 1,943 wins (as of April 7, 2008), against only 785 losses (.712 winning %, 4th all-time). This record includes a 616-106 (.853) mark at historic Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are also second in NCAA history with eighty-nine winning seasons and have reached the Final Four under more head coaches (six) than any other program in the nation. A perennial conference powerhouse, Kansas leads all universities with 51 regular-season conference titles in 100 years of conference play through the 2007-2008 regular season, two more than the second place Kentucky Wildcats. The Jayhawks have won a record eight conference titles and a record six conference tournament titles in the 12 years of the Big 12’s existence. The program also owns the best Big 12 records in both those areas with a 158-34 record in conference play and a 25-6 record in tournament play. In Street & Smith’s Annual list of 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, KU ranked 4th

3.  Allen Fieldhouse

The 16,300 capacity indoor arena is home to some of the most raucous fans around.  But it’s not just the arena.  Kansas started one of the funnier and better traditions for opposing team introductions.  While the opposing team is being introduced, it is tradition for the members of the student section to take out a copy of the student run newspaper, The University Daily Kansan, and pretend to be reading it, in an effort to show disinterest in the opposing team.  I’m a fan of that.

4.  Wilt Chamberlain Went There

20,000 Women?  Of course this is a reason to watch Kansas.  Anyone who thinks differently is wrong.

5.  The Cheerleaders

This is the obvious choice.  Picture credit to Sports Illustrated.

6.  The Fans

Word is there’s nothing like a Jayhawks fan.  Given this picture, there’s certainly a nice demonstration of school spirit there.

7.  The Partying after a Win

I have to admit, this does fall into the fans category, but when Kansas has a big win, not only do students wear Gorilla Masks, the ladies seem to think it’s Mardi Gras.  What a wonderful little college they got going there.

8.  And Finally…..This Guy, The KU White Owl

In this video he claims he isn’t drunk. The pot-smoking hippie lifer was profiled in Saturday’s Kansas City Star and had some interesting revelations, like his time living with Jerry Garcia.  Credit to Busted Coverage on this guy.

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