Longtime lurker, rare poster....
OU and KU are actually polar opposites of each other in many ways:
OU is a blueblood in football, KU is a blueblood in basketball.
OU has an NBA team nearby, sapping support from the basketball program; KU has an NFL team nearby, sapping support from the football program.
OU has a neglected basketball facility, KU has a neglected football facility.
OU's donors prefer to support the football program. KU's donors prefer to support the basketball program (though they just scored a huge donation for a football stadium project).
The biggest difference is that OU is traditionally a top 30 basketball program, while KU football struggles more often than not, and is in a historically awful phase at this time. This accounts for a difference in interest. But, overall, football is life-and-death at OU. It matters. At KU, basketball is life-and-death. It matters to them. Football is a much greater revenue driver, and puts OU in a favorable position for future conference realignment.
My dad first took me to an OU basketball game during the Dave Bliss Big 8 championship season of 1979. That makes me an old fart. I've been watching OU hoops for a long time. I root for OU in both football and basketball.
We have had a successful program in spite of ourselves, with a hand tied behind our back. The heart and soul of the OU athletic department, its donor base, and its fan base, is football. That's who we are. Football drives the bus at OU. Basketball is way down the list of priorities for the donors and fans of OU. It is easier to raise money and to borrow money for a football stadium expansion than for a new or renovated basketball arena at OU. (I don't have a problem with the recent south end zone addition-it was needed to continue to achieve the goals and expectations of the football program) We can disagree with the location of an arena, but most of us agree that a new or renovated facility is needed at OU. I'm sort of embarrassed that Baylor is building their second arena since LNC was built in 1975.
With the success of the football program, all sports are held by the fan base to a similar standard. Our fan base expects national championships, or at least to compete for them. It's "national championship or bust". I don't agree with this mindset, but it's true. Our fans aren't going to show up for something just because someone wearing the OU logo is playing. But, if the team has a chance to win a national championship, our fans will back it. We had over 10,000 people today at LNC for a gymnastics meet between the #1 and #2 teams in the nation. Those weren't all fans of gymnastics that showed up today. Those were fans of OU, there to watch a team favored to win their third national championship in four years. We see the same thing in softball when OU is making a run in the College World Series.
Our basketball program is similar to a football program that goes 7-5 or 8-4 every year. Good, but not great. If our football program did that, our fans would rebel and abandon the program in droves. Our fan base holds all our sports to the same standards as the football program. That means not merely winning, but winning at a national championship level. That may or may not be fair, but it's true. And, for basketball, we'll always struggle to draw huge crowds for no-name opponents. We saw that in the glory days of Billy's and Kelvin's tenures.
