How and why did all the state flagship schools end up with the initials __U, instead of U__?
Nebraksa = NU, not UN
Oklahoma = OU, not UO
Missouri = MU, not UM
Colorado = CU, not UC
Kansas = KU like, not UK

I've also noticed that in the same region, the University of Tulsa and the University of Denver go by TU and DU, respectively.

I'm just curious. The central part of the country is the only area where this seems to be in practice.

Side note: it works out that West Virginia is "West Virginia University," not "University of..." It's one of the few ways that WVU fits into the Big 12.

I’ve always wondered that myself? It’s a really strange custom that they have that part of the country but it’s cool. I’ve always wondered why the universities of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado were KU, NU, OU and CU respectively?

#ShowerThoughts

It's always been like that. There is no apparent reason.

I found this article from KU. They give no real reason, other than to say that it's not because of Kentucky.

http://www.kualumni.org/sports/ku-versus...name-game/

Interestingly, Nebraska refers to themselves as UNL. Athletically, especially in Big 8 days, they have been NU. Missouri refers to themselves as Mizzou, but they have also been known athletically as MU.

Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma are known both athletically and academically as CU, KU, and OU. However, the CU branding does not extend across campuses, as the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs is known as UCCS.

And, yes, the universities of Denver and Tulsa are known as DU and TU.

There is no official reason. The naming convention is a differentiator from other schools, for sure. It's just the way things are done in Big 8 country.

My suspicion is it came from a regional effort to emphasize the State, as the fan base went beyond alumni.

Oklahoma University
Kansas University
Colorado University
Missouri University
Nebraska University

Missouri and Nebraska don't use that anymore, possibly due to change in conference affiliation. Denver and Tulsa probably picked it up from their state flagships.

Today it probably has more to do with unique marketing. While Kansas did not come about to distinguish itself from UK, today it probably remains for that reason. For Colorado, it's similar branding needs with the University of California dominating the UC designation. Nebraska is moving to a system to emphasize "U of N" with campus designations, much like the UC system in California; hence UNL for Lincoln (I do recall the transition going on for some years with Keith Jackson announcing them as "the University of Nebraska in Lincoln"). The fact that the Big Ten has Northwestern University as another NU likely made UNL a done deal -- note being "the UN" would sound like that internationalist organization in New York City. OU it's probably just tradition, and still that desire for State identification. That it distinguishes them from U of Oregon and U of Ohio is probably a factor in it's retention.

That is all an outside WAG. Branding is everything, why California State University, Fresno is never spoken of as anything except Fresno State; and why no UC campus wants to be called "Cal" to avoid association with Berkeley (both good and bad reasons).

In looking at Missouri's website, they use a logo with a stacked MU. They call themselves both MU and Mizzou.

https://missouri.edu/

References and abbreviations in the old Big 8 were easy and uniform: OU, KU, NU, MU, CU, ISU, KSU, and OSU.

Beyond the flagships, newspapers would also use O-State, K-State, and I-State to describe those schools. Even today, there are modern I-State and O-State logos. In addition, Kansas State makes wide use of the K-State name.