Sunflower Showdown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sunflower Showdown is the series of athletic contests between Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, most notably football and men's basketball. The name is derived from the official nickname for the state of Kansas: the Sunflower State. In addition to being natural geographic rivals, both schools are members of the Big 12 Conference North Division, so they are guaranteed to play each other annually in all sports.
The two schools compete each year for the Governor's Cup in football. The football series dates back to 1902, and has been played every year since 1911, making it the fourth-longest uninterrupted series in college football history.[1] The University of Kansas built a large advantage in the series by 1923, and still leads overall 62-37-5, following the 2006 season.
The basketball series dates back to 1907, and is the most-played series in either school's history. The University of Kansas leads the basketball series 173-89, following the 2006-2007 regular season.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
The rivalry between the two schools can be traced indirectly back to their creation in the 1860s. The towns of Manhattan, Kansas (now home to KSU) and Lawrence, Kansas (now home to KU) both competed to be the site of the state University – required in the Kansas Constitution – after Kansas achieved statehood in 1861. Manhattan would have become the home of the University in 1861, but the bill establishing the University in Manhattan was controversially vetoed by Governor Charles L. Robinson of Lawrence. An attempt to override the veto in the Legislature failed by one vote. In 1862, another bill to make Manhattan the site of the University failed by one vote. Finally, on the third attempt, on February 16, 1863, the Kansas Legislature designated Manhattan as home to the state's Land-grant university. Yet the legislature was not done. Prodded by former Governor Robinson, the Legislature distinguished this institution from the "University" in the Constitution, and on February 20 the Legislature named Lawrence as the home to the state University (provided Lawrence could raise $15,000 and acquire 40 acres of land). When Lawrence met these conditions, the University of Kansas was established there in 1865.[2]
The two institutions officially met for the first time in athletic competition a little more than thirty years later, in a baseball game in 1898.
[edit] Men's basketball
The two schools had a strong rivalry in basketball for several decades, peaking in the 1950s. For the past several years, the University of Kansas has fielded a much stronger team, resulting in a winning streak over K-State that lasted from 1994 to 2005. Even when the schools have been at different levels, however, upsets are always a possibility in the rivalry, as when Kansas State upset a KU team that was ranked #1 in the AP Poll on January 17, 1994, or when KU pulled the upset on a K-State team ranked #1 on January 17, 1953.
Over the decades, the rivalry has seen a number of notable coaches match wits, including Jack Gardner, Tex Winter, and Jack Hartman at Kansas State, and James Naismith, Phog Allen, Larry Brown, and Roy Williams at KU. Both teams now again feature noteworthy coaches with high winning percentages – Bill Self (KU) and Bob Huggins (K-State) – and the future seems bright for the rivalry.
[edit] 1950s
Both schools were national title contenders in the 1950s, with K-State starting the decade in the title game of the 1951 NCAA tournament, and KU winning the title at the 1952 NCAA tournament. Befitting a clash of these titans, one of the best games of the 1952 season was an epic 90-88 overtime victory by KU over K-State. KU returned to the Final Four in 1953, claiming the league title along the way over a KSU team that had earlier been the top-ranked basketball team in the country.
The rivalry heated up even further with the arrival of Bob Boozer at Kansas State and Wilt Chamberlain at KU in the middle of the decade. In the 1955-1956 season, Kansas State split the season series with KU and won the Big Seven Conference title, denying Chamberlain his first chance at the NCAA tournament. The following year, Chamberlain led KU to the league title and a triple-overtime loss to North Carolina in the title game of the 1957 NCAA tournament. Kansas and Kansas State played another classic the following season, when Boozer scored 32 points in a 79-75 double-overtime victory at KU on February 3, 1958, while KSU was ranked #3 and KU was ranked #2. (When the two teams had previously met that season on December 30, 1957, they were also ranked #2 and #3 in the country.) Following that season, KSU made another appearance in the Final Four. To close the decade, Kansas State swept the season series from KU on the way to a 25-2 record and a #1 ranking in the final AP Poll for 1959.
During the 1950s, the two schools also engaged in one-upsmanship in facilities. In 1950 Kansas State opened Ahearn Field House, one of the largest and most impressive basketball facilities in the country at the time, which seated 14,000 spectators. Meanwhile, KU continued to play their home games on a converted stage in an auditorium with a seating capacity of 5,500. In response to the construction of Ahearn, the University of Kansas successfully lobbied the state to pay for the construction of Allen Fieldhouse, which would seat 17,000.[3] KU pointedly opened the facility with a game against Kansas State on March 1, 1955 (a 77-66 KU upset victory). This period also saw the beginning of the 'Sunflower Doubleheader', with 2 non-conference teams visiting the state to play KU and K-State at one venue one night, then switching venues and opponents the following evening. This event was held from 1957 to 1968, and featured national powerhouses such as UCLA, Xavier, San Francisco, St. Joseph's, Cal, and Marquette.
[edit] 1960s and 1970s
The basketball rivalry between the two schools continued unabated through the 1960s and 1970s, with the two schools competing annually for the Big Eight Conference championship (see chart below). In Dick Harp's last two seasons as the KU coach, the Jayhawks plummeted to losing records of 7-18 in 1962 and 12-13 in 1963. But in the championship game of the Big Eight Holiday Tournament in December 1962, KU reserve Jay Roberts scored the winning bucket to give KU a 90-88 quadruple overtime victory over K-State. Also, on February 20, 1965, one of the classic pranks in the series was perpetrated when a pair of 6x12 banners saying "Go Cats, Kill Snob Hill Again" unfurled on the east and west sides of the Allen Fieldhouse scoreboard with eight minutes left in the first half of an 88-66 KU victory.
The rivalry remained intense throughout the 1970s, with the two teams winning one Big Eight championship after another through 1978. K-State won its last conference championship in 1977. Also, it was about this time that the Wildcat fans began throwing chickens, some with blue paint, at KU players during pre-game introductions. It was a taunt at the Kansas mascot, the Jayhawk. This became a tradition at K-State until 2007, when PETA complained about it in a letter to KSU President Jon Wefald. Wefald responded by ordering the tradition discontinued.
[edit] 1980s
The 1980s saw the return of star power to the schools and arguably the rivalry's most high-profile game. At the start of the decade, Rolando Blackman at Kansas State and Darnell Valentine at KU squared off in some classic match-ups. To close the decade, it was Mitch Richmond (K-State) and Danny Manning (KU) battling. With Richmond and Manning in their senior years, the 1987-1988 season proved to be momentous in the rivalry. In the first matchup of the season, on January 30, 1988, Richmond scored 35 points to lead Kansas State to a 72-61 win to halt KU's then-record 55-game home winning streak. On February 18, KU turned the tables, prevailing 64-63 in Ahearn Field House to deny K-State a victory over KU in the old field house's last year. In what was supposed to be the rubber game, in the 1988 Big Eight Conference tournament, Kansas State won a decisive victory by a 69-54 score. However, the biggest was yet to come. Both teams qualified for the NCAA tournament, and after three wins apiece in the tournament they faced each other on March 27 in Pontiac, Michigan, for the right to advance to the Final Four. Led by Manning's 20 points, KU turned a tight game into a runaway and prevailed 71-58. They eventually advanced to claim the school's second NCAA Championship.[4] That game in the Pontiac Silverdome was the first of only two meetings between the 'Hawks and the 'Cats that was not played in Lawrence, Manhattan, or Kansas City, Missouri (the second meeting being in the 2007 Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City).
[edit] The 1990s and 2000s
The rivalry slipped in significance after the 1988 season, as K-State slowly declined into an also-ran in the Big 8 and Big 12 conferences. Occasionally, K-State would make some noise, such as the 68-64 win over then-#1 KU in Allen Fieldhouse in 1994. When Tom Asbury was hired at K-State during the 1994 offseason, he vowed to "come after Kansas." Roy Williams accepted this blustering challenge by saying, "South on 177 (Kansas Highway 177), East on 70 (Interstate 70), West Lawrence Exit." Asbury never won a game against the Jayhawks.
From 1994-2005, KU won 31 straight games against K-State, the longest streak for either school in the series. Also, since 1984, KU has won 24 straight games on the Wildcats' home floor. That streak began in Ahearn Field House, where KU won the final five meetings, including a 64-63 victory in the last Sunflower Showdown meeting in that building in Kansas' 1988 championship season. It has carried over into Bramlage Coliseum, where KU has won all 19 contests, most recently a 71-62 win in 2007. Since 1984, K-State has only won seven games against KU, all of them away from Manhattan: four games in Lawrence (1988, 1989, 1994, and 2006) and three games in the Big Eight Tournament in Kansas City (1988, 1989, 1993).
[edit] The Rivalry Today
When Kansas State hired coach Bob Huggins to replace Jim Wooldridge in the 2006 off-season, it created a buzz among the Wildcat faithful. At K-State's Midnight Madness celebration to start the 2006-07 season, he promised that "February 19th is when we break the streak", (referring to the date KU and K-State were scheduled to meet at Bramlage this season). [5]
But K-State fans were sorely disappointed, as KU took a rare three-game season sweep of K-State: a 97-70 victory in Lawrence, a 71-62 win in Manhattan on ESPN's Big Monday (nullifying Huggins' predictions), and a 67-61 triumph in the Big 12 Tournament seminfinals in Oklahoma City (only the second meeting outside of Lawrence, Manhattan, or Kansas City, as previously mentioned).
These losses, combined with Huggins' decision on April 5 to leave KSU for the job at West Virginia, have thrown the rivalry's future in doubt, despite the promotion of Huggins' top assistant, Frank Martin, to the head coaching position.
[edit] Conference titles
From 1931 through 1996, when the Big 12 was formed, Kansas and Kansas State dominated the competition for the basketball title for their conference (known as the Big Six, Big Seven and Big Eight during this time). During this 66-year period, KU or KSU won or shared the title 43 times. The following chart shows the conference titles captured by the Sunflower Showdown schools during this span of time.
| Team | Season | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 1930-1931 | Big Six Conference |
| Kansas | 1931-1932 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1932-1933 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1933-1934 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1935-1936 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1936-1937 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1937-1938 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1938-1939 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1939-1940 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1940-1941 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1941-1942 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1942-1943 | Big Six |
| Kansas | 1945-1946 | Big Six |
| Kansas State | 1947-1948 | Big Seven Conference |
| Kansas | 1949-1950 | Big Seven |
| Kansas State | ||
| Kansas State | 1950-1951 | Big Seven |
| Kansas | 1951-1952 | Big Seven |
| Kansas | 1952-1953 | Big Seven |
| Kansas | 1953-1954 | Big Seven |
| Kansas State | 1955-1956 | Big Seven |
| Kansas | 1956-1957 | Big Seven |
| Kansas State | 1957-1958 | Big Seven |
| Kansas State | 1958-1959 | Big Eight Conference |
| Kansas State | 1959-1960 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | ||
| Kansas State | 1960-1961 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1962-1963 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1963-1964 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1965-1966 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1966-1967 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1967-1968 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1969-1970 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1970-1971 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1971-1972 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1972-1973 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1973-1974 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1974-1975 | Big Eight |
| Kansas State | 1976-1977 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1977-1978 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1985-1986 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1990-1991 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1991-1992 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1992-1993 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1994-1995 | Big Eight |
| Kansas | 1995-1996 | Big Eight |
Kansas has also won 5 Big Twelve regular-season titles, and 5 post-season tournament championships. Following the Jayhawk's 2007 regular-season championship, they have won or shared 50 conference titles in 100 years of conference play.
From 1908 to 1928, the 2 teams were members of the Missouri Valley Conference, with K-State winning the league championship twice, and KU winning 13 titles.
[edit] Football
Neither the University of Kansas nor Kansas State University has had the same sustained excellence in football that they have collectively had in men's basketball. However, mirroring the situation in basketball, over the past several years Kansas State fielded a much stronger team – annually garnering high national rankings – resulting in a winning streak over KU that lasted from 1993 to 2003.
Interestingly for the rivalry, both schools started the 2006 season with brothers at the starting quarterback position: Dylan Meier at Kansas State and Kerry Meier at KU. However, by the time the teams played on November 18, 2006, Dylan Meier had been replaced in K-State's starting lineup. If the brothers had started against each other, it would have been the first time in Division I-A football history that had happened.
[edit] History
After the two programs began playing football in 1902, ill will soon surfaced. Following the 1909 contest, a 5-3 KU victory, a dispute between the schools led them to cancel the game scheduled for the 1910 season. Despite the break in 1910, after the teams met on the field for the 96th consecutive autumn in 2006, only three other series in college football had been contested for more consecutive years.
KU was notably dominant in the series during the early years, building a 17-1-3 advantage through the 1922 season.[6] Since 1923, the programs have been much more even, with KU holding a 45-36-2 advantage during that period (including a 1980 forfeit[7] by KU). Because KU does not acknowledge its forfeit, the two schools disagree on the overall series record. KU says it leads the series 63-36-5, while Kansas State reports the record as 62-37-5.[8]
The teams began competing for the Governor's Cup in 1969, and many of the most storied or interesting games between the programs have come during this period, including a 1994 matchup between sixth-ranked Kansas and fourteenth-ranked Kansas State. KU won the latest contest 39-20, on November 18, 2006.[9]
- See also: Governor's Cup (Kansas)
[edit] Series standings
The schools compete annually in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, baseball, cross country, track and field, women's tennis, rowing, men's golf, and women's golf. Below are the series records in the major sports.
| Sport | Series Record | Last Result |
|---|---|---|
| Football | KU leads 62-37-5 | 39-20 KU win on November 18, 2006 |
| Men's Basketball | KU leads 172-89 | 71-62 KU win on February 19, 2007 |
| Women's Basketball | KSU leads 53-41 | 82-74 KU win on February 19, 2007 |
| Women's Volleyball | KSU leads 56-37-1 | 3-0 KSU win on November 25, 2006 |
| Baseball | KU leads 156-153-1 | 10-6 KSU win on April 3, 2007 |
| Women's Rowing* | Tied 5-5-0 | 14-11 KU win on November 11, 2006 |
| * Fall meeting only (at KSU). Spring meeting at KU called Kansas Cup, KU leads 8-3-0 as of April 7, 2007 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ NCAA Record Book (English). Retrieved on October 11, 2006.
- ^ Griffin, C.S.. The University of Kansas and the Years of Frustration, 1854-64 (English). Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
- ^ Fieldhouse Built to Catch KSU, MU (English). Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
- ^ Rock Chalk Site (English). Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
- ^ http://cjonline.com/stories/021907/haw_149456815.shtml
- ^ College Football Database (English). Retrieved on October 11, 2006.
- ^ "Sports People", New York Times, August 27, 1982. Retrieved on October 20, 2006. (in English)
- ^ Kansas State University (November 18, 2006). KSU-KU Postgame Notes. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
- ^ University of Kansas (November 18, 2006). KU-KSU Postgame Notes. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
[edit] External links
| Rivalries of the Big 12 Conference |
|---|
| Battle of the Brazos (Baylor - Texas A&M) • Bedlam Series (Oklahoma - Oklahoma State) • Border Showdown (Kansas - Missouri) • Lone Star Showdown (Texas - Texas A&M) • Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma - Texas) • Sunflower Showdown (Kansas - Kansas State) |
