If you caught a glimpse of the phrase ‘UMKC Kangaroos,’ you wouldn’t initially believe it was associated with college basketball.

Most people in the country have never heard of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, much less its wacky acronym and even wackier nickname. Even people in Kansas City, home to the NCAA offices and the most Final Fours in history, have never fully embraced a UMKC program that has predominantly struggled since becoming a Division I school in 1986.

In fact, the most noteworthy part of UMKC’s athletics history arguably came more than 30 years before athletics teams were even formed.

Huh?

In 1937, world famous cartoonist Walt Disney, of Marceline, Mo., penned what would become the school’s first logo – for the debate team.

The school chose the nickname after the Kansas City Zoo garnered a large regional interest with its purchase of two baby kangaroos that same year.

In addition, the school was known as Kansas City University at that time, and ‘KCU Kangaroos’ had a catchy rhyme.

To this day, the university markets the Disney connection, but no one is listening. In fact, the school’s logo has changed several times since Disney’s original interpretation.

‘The average Kansas Citian would not know that,’ said David Boyce, who covers UMKC basketball for the Kansas City Star. ‘If you asked a person on the street, they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, I didn’t know.”

They wouldn’t because few people are interested in the school’s athletics to begin with.

‘Most people in Kansas City don’t spend that much time thinking about UMKC,’ Boyce said. ‘(It’s) almost always ignored, because people in Kansas City still pay attention to Kansas and Missouri.’

‘Around here, everybody has been conditioned Big 12, Big 12, Big 12,’ UMKC coach Rich Zvosec said. ‘It’s a tough nut to crack – you’ve got to get to the NCAA Tournament.’

This could very well be the year. Despite starting the season 0-7, the Kangaroos rattled off 11 straight wins, the last nine of which opened Mid-Continent Conference play. While they have since dropped two conference games, all their hopes depend on the conference tournament next month. Only one NCAA Tournament bid is likely to be rewarded to the conference.

The surrounding community has begun to take note. UMKC’s last two home games witnessed sold-out crowds of 6,500, reminiscent of its best season in 1991-92, when Municipal Auditorium was known as – get ready for this – The Pouch of Ouch.

(One presumes the nickname has not resurfaced this season due to sheer ridiculousness.)

‘Most of the students don’t go to the games because they play five miles from campus,’ Boyce said. ‘But because they have been winning, students have started to show up more often.

‘Their last home game, I’d say there were 200 to 300 college students there, which is a huge number for them. It’s usually like 10.’

The school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance would certainly help eliminate the longtime anonymity attributed to the mysterious UMKC acronym.

Some have even suggested returning to the name Kansas City University, especially alumni of the school when it was known by that name. People in the area say the school would become more well-known to those all across the country.

‘That would help tremendously,’ Zvosec said. ‘It would make it easier for me when I go recruiting. Players always say, ‘So are you guys in Columbia, (where the University of Missouri is)?’ I say, ‘No, We’re in Kansas City.’ You’re always explaining where and who the school is.’

But the change is not going to happen. The switch was made in 1968 when the former private school became part of the public University of Missouri system.

While UMKC athletic director Bob Thomas admitted frustration over seeing various incorrect interpretations of the school’s name – such as Kansas City-Missouri – he said the university can thrive with its current acronym.

‘People originally had to figure out what UCLA was,’ Thomas said. ‘And now everybody knows.

‘Right now, we’re proud to be UMKC.’

Thomas also refuses to give in to frequent but feeble qualms over the Kangaroo nickname.

‘There have been some recent proposals to go to a different mascot that is fiercer,’ Thomas said. ‘But something like a tiger is the common nickname out there. We want to be unique.’

Then why not take it to the max and bring back Walt’s logo?

If only the kangaroo held a basketball.

NO. 9 SYRACUSE (-3) AT NO. 6 BOSTON COLLEGE

SATURDAY, 6 P.M., ESPN

The only game pitting two Top 25 teams this week is probably for the Big East regular season crown. Caught off guard by Notre Dame’s zone defense in their only loss of the season last Wednesday, the Eagles should be extra prepared for SU. The Orange appears to have turned a corner.

PICK: SU 70, BC 65

TEXAS TECH (+10) AT NO. 8 OKLAHOMA STATE

SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M., CBS

Bob Knight’s Red Raiders remain in surprising third place in the Big 12 despite losing Saturday at Iowa State. The loss dropped them out of the Top 25 and diminished the luster surrounding this game against the Cowboys, who are second in the conference and are poised for another Final Four run.

PICK: OSU 82, TT 67

NO. 1 ILLINOIS (-13) AT IOWA

SATURDAY, noon, ESPN

The undefeated Illini have probably already locked up one of the easiest roads to the national title game ever. The projected travel path, if they advance to the Final Four, takes Illinois from Indianapolis to Chicago to St. Louis. None of those cities are more than a three-hour drive from Champaign. Look out.

PICK: ILLINOIS 77, IOWA 66

MISSISSIPPI STATE (+9) AT NO. 3 KENTUCKY

SATURDAY, 9 P.M., ESPN

The Wildcats have a chance to duplicate in basketball what Auburn accomplished in Southeastern Conference football last season – go undefeated. They are currently 10-0. But Kentucky coach Tubby Smith apologized on his radio show for his team’s performance in Saturday’s nine-point win over Georgia.

PICK: KENTUCKY 73, MSU 60

CLEMSON (+23) AT NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA

SATURDAY, 1:00 P.M., ABC

After a one-point loss to archrival Duke last Wednesday, the Tar Heels responded with an impressive 77-70 win at UConn on Sunday. The question in this game is whether UNC eclipses its season-high victory margin of 34 points that it set at Virginia on Jan 29. It won’t quite get there.

PICK: UNC 94, CLEMSON 67

Published on February 14, 2005 at 12:00 pm