The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

. The Jayhawks are also a member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. KU athletic teams have won twelve NCAA Division I championships: four in men's basketball, one in men's cross country, three in men's indoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, three in men's outdoor track and field, and one in women's outdoor track and field.

Mascot

Origins of "Jayhawk"

The name "Jayhawk" comes from the Kansas

Jayhawker Jayhawkers and red legs are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs we ...

militias during the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

era of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The origin of the term likely goes back as far as the Revolutionary War, when it was reportedly used to describe a group associated with American

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...

, who served in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

as well as the 1st Chief Justice of the United States as a member of the right wing

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. De ...

. Jay believed in the abolition of slavery and has been described by historians as a "

Christian Nationalist Christian nationalism is Christianity-affiliated religious nationalism. Christian nationalists primarily focus on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity and its role in political and social life. In count ...

" and "among the most orthodox of Christians," according to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

professor

Daniel Dreisbach Daniel Dreisbach is an American author, academic, and attorney. He is currently a professor at the American University American University School of Public Affairs, School of Public Affairs. Dreisbach teaches at the Summer Institute program of t ...

and that America should be governed by Christians. In 1816, Jay wrote, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." In 1776, prior to America's founding, Jay condemned slavery as a moral evil, and would be quoted as saying, "The Holy Gospels are yet to be preached to these western regions, and we have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty will not suffer slavery and the gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it will not be." Because of his positions on the immorality of slavery and the need for Christianity in government, many dubbed the political and militia groups that arose over the next century that were largely Christian and militantly anti-slavery as "Jayhawkers." The name became synonymous with the state of Kansas due to many of the founders being Federalist settlers that moved to Kansas Territory from the east. The term became part of the lexicon of the Missouri-Kansas border in about 1858, during the Kansas territorial period, as these militia groups began to grow in Kansas. Another historian of the territorial period described the jayhawkers as bands of men that were willing to fight, kill, and rob for a variety of motives that included defense against pro-slavery "Border Ruffians", abolition of slavery, driving pro-

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

settlers from Kansas Territory and their claims of land, Christianity, revenge, or plunder and personal profit. In September 1861, the town of

Osceola, Missouri Osceola is a city in St. Clair County, Missouri, United States. The population was 909 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of St. Clair County. During the American Civil War, Osceola was the site of the Sacking of Osceola. History Located ...

was burned to the ground by Jayhawkers during the

Sacking of Osceola A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), an Iris ...

. On the 150th anniversary of that event in 2011, the town asked the

to remove the Jayhawk as its mascot. The university refused. Over time, proud of their state's contributions to the end of slavery and the preservation of the Union, Kansans embraced the "Jayhawker" term. The term came to be applied to people or items related to Kansas. When the University of Kansas fielded their first football team in 1890, like many universities at that time, they had no official mascot. They used many different independent mascots, including a pig. Eventually, sometime during the 1890s, the team was referred to as the Jayhawkers by the student body. Over time, the name was gradually supplanted by its shorter variant, and KU's sports teams are now almost exclusively known as the Jayhawks. The Jayhawk appears in several Kansas cheers, most notably, the "

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" (a.k.a. the Rock Chalk chant) is a chant used at University of Kansas Jayhawks sporting events. The chant is made up of the phrase "Rock chalk, Jayhawk, KU". History The chant was first adopted by the university's science clu ...

" chant in unison before and during games. In the traditions promoted by KU, the jayhawk is said to be a combination of two birds, "the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter." The term Jayhawker was made famous in Clint Eastwood’s movie The Outlaw Josey Wales. An older Kansas couple comes into a General store in Texas. The checker says, “The wheat is from Kansas and the molases comes from Missouri.” Grandma says, “Well sir we'll do without the molases, anything from Missouri has a taint about it.” Grandpa says, “Now, Grandma, you’ve got to tread lightly now that we’re here in Texas. Lot of nice elements from Missouri coming West.” Grandma responds, “Never heard of nice things from Missouri coming West, and treading lightly is not my way. We’re from Kansas, Jayhawkers and proud of it.” The link between the term "Jayhawkers" and any specific kind of mythical bird, if it ever existed, had been lost or at least obscured by the time KU's bird mascot was invented in 1912. The originator of the first bird mascot, Henry Maloy, struggled for over two years to create a pictorial symbol for the team, until hitting upon the bird idea. As explained by Mr. Maloy, "the term ‘jayhawk’ in the school yell was a verb and the term ‘jayhawkers’ was the noun." KU's current Jayhawk tradition largely springs from Frank W. Blackmar, a KU professor. In his 1926 address on the origin of the Jayhawk, Blackmar specifically referenced the blue jay and sparrow hawk. Blackmar's address served to soften the link between KU's athletic team moniker and the Jayhawkers of the Kansas territorial period, and helped explain the relatively recently invented Jayhawk pictorial symbol with a myth that appears to have been of even more recent fabrication. More recently, however, the University and KU fans have again embraced the history of the Jayhawker moniker, with the football team, among other Varsity teams, donning civil war themed uniforms.

Costume mascots

Jayhawks

Big Jay Big Jay is a mountain in the northern Green Mountains of Vermont, located on the border of Franklin County, Vermont, Franklin and Orleans County, Vermont, Orleans counties. The summit of Big Jay is the highest point of Franklin County. Big Ja ...

and

Baby Jay Baby Jay is one of the costume mascots of the Kansas Jayhawks. Together, Big Jay and Baby Jay are Jayhawks and are the mascots used by the University of Kansas. Another mascot named Centennial Jay was temporarily used in 2012. Baby Jay was cre ...

are the costume

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

s used by the University of Kansas. Another Jayhawk costume mascot was Centennial Jay, or C Jay. C Jay was created by student cartoonist Henry Maloy and featured in the

University Daily Kansan The ''University Daily Kansan'' is an editorially independent student newspaper serving the University of Kansas. It was founded in 1904. Its print distribution was only within the university's campus, as well as student apartment complexes throu ...

in 1912. Maloy's depiction of the Jayhawk helped answer the question of what the mythical bird would look like. When asked why he gave the bird shoes Maloy responded, "Why? For kicking opponents, of course." C Jay was reintroduced as a full-sized mascot on February 25, 2012 in the final Border War against

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Jayhawk. C Jay was used only in 2012 for the 100-year anniversary of the original Jayhawk design.

Sports sponsored

The University of Kansas officially sponsors 16 sports: 6 men's and 8 women's. There are also club-level sports for

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, and men's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. The school used to sponsor a

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

team, though the sport was discontinued during the 1960s.

Basketball

Men's basketball

The Jayhawks men's basketball program is one of the most successful and prestigious programs in the history of college basketball. The Jayhawks' first coach was the inventor of the game,

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

. The program has produced some of the game's greatest professional players (including

Clyde Lovellette Clyde Edward Lovellette ( ; September 7, 1929 – March 9, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to ...

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

Jo Jo White Joseph Henry White (November 16, 1946 – January 16, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. As an amateur, he played basketball at the University of Kansas, where he was named a second-team All-American twice. White was part o ...

Paul Pierce Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics. He was most recently an analyst on ESPN ...

, and

Frank Mason III Frank Leo Mason III (born April 3, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for SLUC Nancy Basket of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas, where he was the starting point guard for the Jayhawks. F ...

, and most successful coaches (including

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

Ralph Miller Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American college basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita (now known as Wichita State), Iowa, and Oregon State. With an overall record of , his teams had ...

Dutch Lonborg Arthur C. "Dutch" Lonborg (March 16, 1898 – January 31, 1985) was a basketball, American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. Basketball The Gardner, Illinois native coached for 23 years at McPherson Colleg ...

John McLendon John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professi ...

, Larry Brown,

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

, Roy Williams, and

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

). The program has enjoyed considerable national success, having been retrospectively awarded

Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

titles for the 1922 and 1923 seasons, winning NCAA national championships in 1952, 1988, 2008, and 2022, and playing in 16 Final Fours, and is one of only three programs to win more than 2,000 games. In Street & Smith's Annual list of 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, KU ranked 4th.

Women's basketball

Kansas first fielded a women's team during the 1968–69 season. For thirty-one seasons (1973–2004) the women's team was coached by

Marian Washington Marian Elizabeth Washington (born August 26, 1946) is a former women's basketball coach, mostly known for her career at the University of Kansas, a post she held for over 30 years. Throughout her career, Washington achieved multiple awards and ac ...

, who led the team to three Big Eight championships, one Big 12 Championship, six conference tournament championships, eleven NCAA Tournament appearances and four

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

Tournament appearances. The team's best post-season result was a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1998.

Bonnie Henrickson Bonnie Henrickson (born April 13, 1963) is the head women's college basketball coach at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to becoming the head coach at UC Santa Barbara, Henrickson was the head coach at the University of Kansas fro ...

served as head coach from 2004 to 2015, until she was fired in March 2015.

Brandon Schneider Brandon Schneider (born December 4, 1971) is an American college women's basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Schneider was previously the head coach, from 2010 to 2015, for Stephen F. Austin State University, and from 1998 to 2010 at ...

was hired to replace Henrickson in April 2015.

Football

KU began playing football in 1890. The football team has had notable alumni including

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Saye ...

, a two-time All-American who later enjoyed an injury-shortened yet Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears;

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played col ...

, another Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl XVII MVP with the Washington Redskins; Pro Football Hall of Famer for the Cleveland Browns, Mike McCormack. Additional notable former Jayhawks

John Hadl John Willard Hadl (February 15, 1940 – November 30, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 16 years. He won an AFL championship with the San Diego C ...

Curtis McClinton Curtis Realious McClinton Jr. (born June 25, 1939) is a former collegiate and professional American football player. His father, Curtis McClinton Sr., served in the Kansas Senate. McClinton attended Wichita North High School in Wichita, Kansas ...

Dana Stubblefield Dana William Stubblefield (born November 14, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). After graduating from Taylor High School in North Bend, Ohio, Stubblefiel ...

Bobby Douglass Robert Gilchrist Douglass (born June 22, 1947) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) who played most of his career with the Chicago Bears, who drafted him in the second round of the 1969 NFL Draft. Durin ...

Nolan Cromwell Nolan Neil Cromwell (born January 30, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks, where he earned ...

, and current NFL cornerbacks

Aqib Talib Aqib Talib (born February 13, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at the University of Kansas, where he received consensus All-American honors, and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first rou ...

and

Chris Harris Jr. Christopher Harris Jr. (born June 18, 1989) is an American football cornerback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free age ...

The Jayhawks have appeared three times in the Orange Bowl, 1948, 1969 and 2008, winning in 2008. The team currently plays in Memorial Stadium (capacity 50,071), the seventh oldest college football stadium in the nation, which opened in 1921.

Clint Bowen Clint Bowen (born June 27, 1972) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas, a position he has held since 2021. He served as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the Univer ...

was named interim head coach after

Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in ...

was fired September 28, 2014. On December 5, 2014, David Beaty was announced as the next head football coach.

Baseball

Kansas baseball began in 1880 and has produced notable players such as

Bob Allison William Robert Allison (July 11, 1934 – April 9, 1995) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball from to . Allison attended the University of Kansas for ...

and

Steve Renko Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Red Sox ...

. The team has appeared in five NCAA tournaments (1993, 1994, 2006, 2009, 2014) and one College World Series (1993).

Softball

The Jayhawks softball team has appeared in seven

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

, including five straight from 1973–77, as well as 1979 and 1992.

Golf

In 1949,

Marilynn Smith Marilynn Louise Smith (April 13, 1929 – April 9, 2019) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won two major championships and 21 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World ...

won the women's individual intercollegiate golf championship (an event conducted by the

Division of Girls' and Women's Sports The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(DGWS) — which later evolved into the current NCAA women's golf championship).

Notable non-varsity sports

Rugby

Founded in 1964, Kansas Jayhawks Rugby Football Club plays

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

in the Division 1 Heart of America conference against its many of its traditional Big 8 / Big 12 rivals such as Kansas State and Missouri. Kansas finished the 2011 year ranked 24th. Kansas rugby has embarked on international tours since 1977, playing in Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, Belgium, Holland, Scotland, England, Ireland and Argentina. The team plays its matches at the Westwick Rugby Complex, which was funded by $350,000 in alumni donations. Kansas often hosts the annual Heart of America sevens tournament played every September, the winner of which qualifies for the USA Rugby sevens national championship. Notable University of Kansas rugby all-Americans are: Pete Knudsen 1986, Paul King 1989–90, Anthony Rio 1992, Philip Olson 1993 all American, Joel Foster 1993, Collin Gotham 1993. In 2022 the club played in the USA Rugby D1AA spring national championship game, falling to Fresno State, 22–17.

Ice hockey

Competing in the ACHA, the Kansas Jayhawks Club Ice Hockey team has seen a resurgence in popularity since the team started scheduling games against historical rivals Missouri and Nebraska, starting on an annualized basis in 2013. The team is coached by Andy McConnell. The team's primary logo is the traditional Kansas Jayhawk logo, with the secondary logo paying homage to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

classic logo, with the outline of the state of Kansas having a hockey stick running through the middle of it.

Championships

Conference championships and titles

champions have the best conference regular season record, and titles are awarded to the winner of the postseason championship tournament. In all sports combined, the Jayhawks have won total of 169 conference titles all-time, 24 championships since joining the Big 12. Approximately one third of those are from the Men's basketball. ; Men's basketball The Jayhawks have won or shared an NCAA record 63 conference championships since they joined their first conference in 1907. The Jayhawks have belonged to the

since it was formed, before the 1996–97 season, and dominated it, winning 12 straight conference titles dating back to 2005. Before that, the Jayhawks have belonged to the

Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", in ...

from the 1907–08 to 1927–28 seasons, the

Big Six Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

from 1928–29 to 1946–47, the Big Seven Conference from 1947–48 to 1957–58, the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

from 1958–59 up until the end of the 1995–96 season. The Big Six and Big Seven conferences were actually the more often used names of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which existed under that official name until 1964, when it was changed to the Big Eight. Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (13) * 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 Big Six Conference (12) * 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946 Big Seven Conference (5) * 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957 Big Eight Conference (13) * 1960, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 Big 12 Conference (20) * 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022 In addition to the 63 regular season conference championships, the Jayhawks have also captured 29 conference tournament championships: Big 7 Holiday Tournament (4) * 1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, Big 8 Holiday Tournament (9) *1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1978, Big 8 Postseason Tournament (4) *1981, 1984, 1986, 1992, Big 12 Postseason Tournament (12) *1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2022 ; Women's basketball : 1979 – Big 8 tournament champion : 1980 – Big 8 tournament champion : 1981 – Big 8 tournament champion : 1987 – Big 8 regular season and tournament champion : 1988 – Big 8 tournament champion : 1992 – Big 8 regular season champion : 1993 – Big 8 tournament champion : 1996 – Big 8 regular season champion : 1997 – Big 12 champion ; Baseball : 1921 – MVIAA champion : 1922 – MVIAA champion : 1923 – MVIAA champion : 1949 – Big 7 Conference champion : 2006 – Big 12 tournament champion ; Soccer : 2004 – Big 12 regular season co-champion ; Softball : 2006 – Big 12 tournament champion ; Men's indoor track and field : 1922, 1923, 1934, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 ; Women's indoor track and field : 2013 ; Men's outdoor track and field : 1910, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1946, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 ; Women's outdoor track and field : 2013 ; Men's cross country : 1928, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969 ; Men's golf : 1999 ; Tennis : 1979, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2019 ; Women's volleyball : 2016

NCAA team championships

Kansas has won 12 NCAA team national championships: * Men (11) **

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(4): 1952, 1988, 2008, 2022 ** Cross country (1): 1953 **

Indoor track and field Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

(3): 1966, 1969, 1970 **

Outdoor track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

(3): 1959, 1960, 1970 * Women (1) **

(1): 2013

Other national team athletic titles

The Jayhawks have also won three national titles not awarded by the NCAA: * Men's

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

(1): 2004 ( USBC intercollegiate champions) * Men's Basketball (2): 1922, 1923 (

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

retrospective selections)

Rivalries

Kansas State Wildcats (Sunflower Showdown)

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

is Kansas' in-state rival. The series between Kansas and Kansas State is known as the

Sunflower Showdown The Sunflower Showdown is the series of athletic contests between Kansas State University and the University of Kansas athletic programs, most notably football and men's basketball. The name is derived from the official nickname for the state ...

Missouri Tigers (Border War)

The 160-year-old rivalry between Kansas and Missouri began with open violence that up to the American Civil War known as Bleeding Kansas that took place in the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

(

Sacking of Lawrence The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who ...

) and the western frontier towns of

throughout the 1850s. The incidents were clashes between pro-slavery factions from both states and anti-slavery Kansans to influence whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state. In the opening year of the war, six Missouri towns (the largest being

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

) and large swaths of the western Missouri country side were plundered and burned by guerrilla "Jayhawkers" from Kansas. The

led to a retaliatory raid on Lawrence, Kansas two years later known as the

Lawrence Massacre The Lawrence Massacre, also known as Quantrill's Raid, was an attack during the American Civil War (186165) by Quantrill's Raiders, a Confederate guerrilla group led by William Quantrill, on the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing aro ...

killing between 185 and 200 men and boys, which in turn led to the infamous

General Order No. 11 (1863) General Order No. 11 is the title of a Union Army directive issued during the American Civil War on August 25, 1863, forcing the abandonment of rural areas in four counties in western Missouri. The order, issued by Union General Thomas Ewing, J ...

, the forced depopulation of several western Missouri counties.Spurgeon, Ian (2009), ''Man of Douglas, man of Lincoln: the political odyssey of James Henry Lane'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 185–88 The raid on Lawrence was led by

William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Having endured a tempestuous childhood before later becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who ...

, a Confederate guerrilla born in Ohio who had formed his

bushwhacker Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tra ...

group at the end of 1861. At the time the Civil War broke out, Quantrill was a resident of Lawrence, Kansas teaching school. The athletic rivalry began with a football game on October 31, 1891. Currently it is the second longest played series in Division I football and has been described as one of the most intense in the nation. However, no regular season games were scheduled after Missouri accepted an offer to join the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

and Kansas refused Missouri's offer to continue rivalry outside of the conference. In the basketball series Kansas leads by a large margin (172-95 KU), in football Missouri leads by a very small margin (56-55-9 MU) and baseball Missouri leads by a large margin. Regular season games have been scheduled for basketball beginning in 2020 and football in 2025 for the first time since Missouri left for the SEC.

Dormant rivalries

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Kansas had a rivalry with the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, though that rivalry had more to do with who had the better sports program, with Kansas priding itself on its basketball prowess and Nebraska on its football dominance. This rivalry of sports cultures has gone dormant with Nebraska's departure for the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in 2011. Prior to 2011, the football series between the 2 schools was the 3rd most played rivalry in college football behind Minnesota-Wisconsin and Kansas-Missouri. In basketball, Kansas leads the all-time series 170–71.

Notable seasons

* In 1992–1993, KU became the second NCAA Division I program to send its football team to a bowl game (Aloha Bowl), one of its basketball teams to the Final Four, and its baseball team to the College World Series in the same academic year. The first was LSU in 1985–86. * In the 2007–2008 football and men's basketball seasons, KU amassed a combined 49–4 record (12–1 football, 37–3 basketball), which is the most combined wins ever by an NCAA Division I program, and is also one of only two college sports programs to win a BCS Bowl game and a College Basketball National Championship in the same sports season, the other was the 2006–2007

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

who won the BCS national championship and their second consecutive basketball national championship. * In the 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 basketball seasons, KU became the only school in the nation over those two seasons to have their men's and women's basketball teams both qualify for the Sweet 16 both seasons.

Notable athletes

This list below is for Olympic medalists and Hall of Famers in their respective sport, with a single exception. For a more comprehensive list of notable athletes see .

Athletic directors

Kansas has had 16 full-time athletic directors and 8 interim athletic directors. W. O. Hamilton was the first official athletic director. Travis Goff has served as the athletic director since 2021. Longtime men's basketball coach

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"W. O. Hamilton, 1911–1919 *

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Gwinn Henry Gwinn Henry (August 5, 1887 – May 16, 1955) was an American football player, track athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Howard Payne University (1912–1913), the College of Emporia (1918� ...

, 1938–1942 * Karl Klooz, 1943 (interim) *

Ernie Quigley Ernest Cosmos Quigley (March 22, 1880 – December 10, 1960) was a Canadian-born American sports official who became notable both as a basketball referee and as an umpire in Major League Baseball. He also worked as an American football coach an ...

, 1944–1949 *

Arthur Lonborg Arthur C. "Dutch" Lonborg (March 16, 1898 – January 31, 1985) was a basketball, American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. Basketball The Gardner, Illinois native coached for 23 years at McPherson Colleg ...

, 1950–1963 * Wade R. Stinson, 1964–1972 * Clyde Walker, 1973–1977 * Bob Marcum, 1978–1981 * Del Shankel, 1981 (interim) * Jim Lessig, 1982 * Del Shankel, 1982 (interim) * Monte Johnson, 1982–1987 * Bob Frederick, 1987–2001 * Richard Konzem, 2001 (interim) * Allen Bohl, 2001–2003 * Drue Jennings, 2003 (interim) *

Lew Perkins Lew Perkins (born March 24, 1945) is a former athletic director, ending his 40-year career at the University of Kansas. Perkins joined KU in June 2003, taking over for Al Bohl. Perkins previously held similar positions with the University of Co ...

, 2003–2010 * Sean Lester, 2010–2011 (interim) *

Sheahon Zenger Sheahon Jay Zenger (born April 13, 1966) has three decades of experience in academic and athletic administration, development, and coaching. Zenger serves as the interim president for the University of New Haven, a position he has held since J ...

, 2011–2018 * Sean Lester – 2018 (interim) * Jeff Long, 2018–2021 * Kurt Watson, (interim) 2021 *

Travis Goff Travis Goff (born September 28, 1979) is an American athletics director and the 16th director of athletics for the University of Kansas. Prior to being named as Kansas' athletic director, Goff spent the previous twenty years as a development admin ...