Kansas

[southpawstu19]

so officially the college located in kansas as the state university is called "the university of kansas" but on all of their athletic apparel and logos the letters are "KU" (kansas university)...whats the deal with that?

[JQK]

Officially, the college located in Kansas as the state university is called "Kansas State University".

[Cujo]

The University of Colorado is the same way -- as they go by CU when it really should be U of C.

Couldn't tell you why the letters are reversed.

[slapshot]

UK is Kentucky.

They don't want to confuse the two, since they aren't too far away from each other geographically.

[sacker12]

UK is Kentucky.

They don't want to confuse the two, since they aren't too far away from each other geographically.

If I had to guess, it probably is rooted from the many times that have played each other in basketball. Both Kentucky (UK) and Kansas (KU) have been played each other numerous times in basketball over the decades. It's probably to ensure a clear distinction between the two schools.

[cheo25]

The University of Colorado is the same way -- as they go by CU when it really should be U of C.

Couldn't tell you why the letters are reversed.

As is the University of Oklahoma -- OU

[sharplcd]

The University of Colorado is the same way -- as they go by CU when it really should be U of C.

Couldn't tell you why the letters are reversed.

As is the University of Oklahoma -- OU

Let's hope the University of Florida doesn't catch on to that trend

[Herk]

The University of Nebraska is referred to as NU instead of UN. If I recall correctly the reason behind that is a lot of Midwestern Universities wanted to sound more informal by calling themselves __ University instead of University of ___.

[Ron Mexico]

I always thought it was some kind of Big 8 thing.

MU

KU

NU

OU

CU

ISU

KSU

OSU

Because other midwestern schools, like the Big Ten, don't do that as much (just IU, NU, PSU, MSU and TOSU)

[kphealey]

The University of Colorado is the same way -- as they go by CU when it really should be U of C.

Couldn't tell you why the letters are reversed.

As is the University of Oklahoma -- OU

Let's hope the University of Florida doesn't catch on to that trend

Furman University, my school, has that covered.

FU 1 TIME!

FU 2 TIMES!

FU 3 TIMES!

FU ALL THE TIME!

[a2b05]

I hate how Ohio State is always "THE Ohio State University" (tOSU). Penn State teams don't go off saying "THE Penn State University" or "THE University of Southern Cal"

How many Ohio States are there?

[tBBP]

I hate how Ohio State is always "THE Ohio State University" (tOSU). Penn State teams don't go off saying "THE Penn State University" or "THE University of Southern Cal"

How many Ohio States are there?

Or Pennsylvania State University, for that matter--but then, that'd be strange enough in itself.

Come to think of it, when thinking of the proper names of many of the short-forms we all know and use so regularly, a good number of schools would end up sounding strange or weird or out-of-place. Think about it...

...When was the last time you heard anyone refer to Ole Miss as "the University of Mississippi"--or even "Mississippi", for that matter?

Or how about the University of California?

Nevada-Las Vegas? (Or California-Los Angeles, for that matter.)

Or how about this one here...the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University? Sounds like some nerdy-place to go for them super-smart people, don't it? Listening at it said that way, I'm sure there are some people who probably couldn't connect that and the Hokies athletic teams to each other.

Or how about the Georgia Institute of Technology? Of course, unlike the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology ain't abbreviated as "GIT"--nah, it's the more recognizeable Georgia Tech.

I'm sure there are other examples...but those are the preeminent ones in my mind.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Or how about this one here...the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University? Sounds like some nerdy-place to go for them super-smart people, don't it? Listening at it said that way, I'm sure there are some people who probably couldn't connect that and the Hokies athletic teams to each other.

Or how about the Georgia Institute of Technology? Of course, unlike the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology ain't abbreviated as "GIT"--nah, it's the more recognizeable Georgia Tech.

Texas Tech and Tennessee Tech are (in long form) Texas Tech University, and Tennessee Technological University, respectively. TTU is only phoentically dirty, whereas if these schools followed the naming convention of MIT ...

[leopard88]

Because other midwestern schools, like the Big Ten, don't do that as much (just IU, NU, PSU, MSU and TOSU)

In those cases, the actual school names are Indiana University and Northwestern University.

I've always thought the whole "Letter-U" tradition was a little odd, but I don't know of any explanation for it.

[no97]

I hate how Ohio State is always "THE Ohio State University" (tOSU). Penn State teams don't go off saying "THE Penn State University" or "THE University of Southern Cal"

How many Ohio States are there?

I was always under the impression that the charter of Ohio University called that school "Ohio, the State University," and that was the reason that Ohio State insisted on the inclusion of the word the in front of OSU... Perhaps an Ohioan can shed some light on this situation.

Moose

[Herk]

Fresno State is really California State University- Fresno which is why on TV they are always abbreviated FS instead of FSU.

[mfoster]

The University of Nebraska is referred to as NU instead of UN. If I recall correctly the reason behind that is a lot of Midwestern Universities wanted to sound more informal by calling themselves __ University instead of University of ___.

Of course, Nebraska-Omaha is commonly referred to as UN-O, UNO, or, as a former junior hockey player I know called it, The University of No Opportunities...

[Fred T. Jane]

I hate how Ohio State is always "THE Ohio State University" (tOSU). Penn State teams don't go off saying "THE Penn State University" or "THE University of Southern Cal"

How many Ohio States are there?

Or Pennsylvania State University, for that matter--but then, that'd be strange enough in itself.

Come to think of it, when thinking of the proper names of many of the short-forms we all know and use so regularly, a good number of schools would end up sounding strange or weird or out-of-place. Think about it...

...When was the last time you heard anyone refer to Ole Miss as "the University of Mississippi"--or even "Mississippi", for that matter?

Or how about the University of California?

Nevada-Las Vegas? (Or California-Los Angeles, for that matter.)

Or how about this one here...the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University? Sounds like some nerdy-place to go for them super-smart people, don't it? Listening at it said that way, I'm sure there are some people who probably couldn't connect that and the Hokies athletic teams to each other.

Or how about the Georgia Institute of Technology? Of course, unlike the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology ain't abbreviated as "GIT"--nah, it's the more recognizeable Georgia Tech.

I'm sure there are other examples...but those are the preeminent ones in my mind.

There's always The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

[footballfiji]

I think it's mainly an old Big 8 thing. From Colorado's website:

CU, not UC

A question often asked of many former Big Eight schools: Why is it the University of Colorado, but the moniker is CU and not UC? (The same applies at Kansas-KU, Missouri-MU, Nebraska-NU and Oklahoma-OU). "Midwestern casualness," says CU historian Fred Casotti. It has always been this way at Colorado, for whatever reason, and at the other four listed above-but seemingly nowhere else in the USA.

In the 1950s, there was a concerted effort to eliminate the use of "CU" on the Boulder campus, both as a symbol and in speech, but Casotti said that no one would buy into it. "Nobody would change," he said. "It's easier to say than U of C, UC sounds like slang or something (as in 'you see'), and it was traditional. By trying to eliminate it, they reinforced it."

Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado all do the same thing.

Sometimes however, how fans casually refer to a school can eventually affect the school's name. Auburn University was originally called Alabama Polytechnic Institute (or API) but so many people referred to it as "Auburn", because the city it was in, that the State Legislature approved the change to Auburn University in 1960.

[BJBerthiaume]

I could care less because Kansas has one of the coolest helmets in college football.