Arch Madness begins Thursday in St. Louis, and Jeff Foster is ready to welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to town.

“I don’t see them getting upset here,” said Foster, a Kansas University graduate who organizes TV-watch parties for KU basketball games at P.J.’s Tavern.

Foster, who watched KU win the NCAA championship in 1988, expects to join thousands of fans clad in crimson and blue when KU takes on Holy Cross in first-round action of the 2002 tournament Thursday at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It will seem like an alumni reunion,” he said.

The Jayhawks are the top seed in the Midwest region despite a disappointing showing Sunday against Oklahoma, which won the Big 12 Tournament finale 64-55 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

Getting assigned to the Gateway City, an easy 300-mile cruise down Interstate 70, is a dream come true for KU fans. Aside from the proximity of St. Louis to Lawrence, the faithful can get excited about the availability of tickets and an array of entertainment and dining options in that river town.

If folks want to talk sports with locals in St. Louis bar districts, no problem. There are as many as 4,500 KU grads in the metropolitan area, and their hometown was named the Best Sports City in North America a couple years ago.

And music? It’s a perfect place to turn blue, said Mary Hendron of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission.

“There are more working blues musicians than any place in the planet,” she said.

Kirk Cerny, senior vice president for membership services at the KU Alumni Association, will help KU alumni catch the spirit of St. Louis. He was at Kemper Arena Sunday.

“Everyone I talked to said, ‘If they go to St. Louis, we’re packing up and going,'” he said.

The hub of activity for KU fans in St. Louis will be the Hyatt Regency at Union Station, which is connected to a National Landmark retail, dining and entertainment complex. On Sunday night, rooms were still available at the Hyatt for the tournament  at $224 a night.

“The whole renovated Union Station area is incredible,” Cerny said.

He said a pep rally would be at the hotel before KU’s game Thursday, but no time or room was set.

There is Metrolink rail service for people who want to get from the Hyatt to the Edward Jones Dome.

Tickets for games at the dome, which holds 33,000 for basketball, were available Sunday night from Ticketmaster. A full-session package for four games Thursday and two games Saturday range from $60 to $120, depending on seat location.

Most people will drive their own vehicles to St. Louis, Cerny said.

“By the time you go to the airport and stand in line two hours minimum for a domestic flight, it makes sense to drive,” he said.

And cheering with those traveling Jayhawks will be Foster, who was a student at KU in 1988 when Danny Manning and the Miracles defeated the Sooners to win the NCAA championship in Kansas City, Mo.

“I was a senior,” he said. “I was in downtown KC when they beat Oklahoma and booked it back to campus for the celebration. It’d be great to see them do it again.”