Class of 2010, you must consult others for advice on how to make the most of the vast academic opportunities available to you at your school of choice, Kansas University. As for how to make the most of your stay in Lawrence in a way that guarantees you will have fresh conversation fodder with your classmates for the rest of your life, listen up.

Go to every home football game and every home basketball game, even if you’re not yet much of a sports fan.

Ask anyone who witnessed KU’s football team defeat Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa State at Memorial Stadium last fall if he or she regrets being there to partake in celebrations they’ll remember forever. Ask anyone who was at Late Night in the Phog if he or she would have had a more enjoyable evening at a party.

And here’s the best thing about collegiate athletics at the big-time level: They keep you connected to your university into your years as a parent and grandparent. No matter where you live, you can check out games on television, and then get on the phone to vent or gloat with your old pals from college. It keeps your school in you in a way nothing else quite can match.

A classmate of mine from Marquette, who was jumping on couches long before Tom Cruise (he did it while playing air guitar, not to profess his love to his much younger fiancee) and I talk a few times a week during the basketball season, then almost never until the resumption of the following season.

Lame excuse for missing a game: “I have to study.” Once you get out into the real world, you’ll find that just about any profession you pursue will demand you set deadlines and meet them. So set a studying deadline of one hour before game time, meet it, then go have yourself a blast.

Big-time sports are outstanding marketing tools for universities. The more sellouts the football team has, the more impressed recruits will be, the better the team will be, the more often it will be on television marketing the school. The more exposure a school gets, the more top-flight students it attracts, the more valuable a degree becomes.

If you’re not a huge sports fan and don’t quite know where to begin studying up on KU’s teams, you’ve come to the right place.

Remember, you are fortunate in this respect: For four years your knowledge of KU sports will grow while the football team’s quarterback’s performance grows. Kerry Meier, a big, strong, fast leader out of Pittsburg, figures to be leading the offense throughout your four years at KU.

This coming season’s basketball roster is so deep and flexible it’s not a stretch to believe the most entertaining basketball on the planet will be played in Allen Fieldhouse.

Here’s a primer on the basketball team, with players listed in order of playing time they might get:

1. Brandon Rush, 6-foot-6 sophomore forward: Led the team in scoring and rebounding as a freshman, is a phenomenal leaper, and is likely to bolt to the NBA after the season.

2. Mario Chalmers, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard: A great shooter who might supplant Rush as the leading scorer, Chalmers makes life miserable for opposing guards trying to penetrate.

3. Julian Wright, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward: A remarkably quick jumper who looks uncoordinated while walking. Man, is that one deceptive gait. Author of the team’s most explosive in-game dunks, Wright is a favorite of KU professors because he likes to sit in the front row and he likes to listen, is the best passer on the team, and one of the best in the nation. Likes to pass classes, too.

4. Darrell Arthur, 6-foot-9 freshman forward: Long, lean and explosive, Arthur runs the floor like a sprinter, blocks shots, and has the best shooting touch among KU big men. He led South Oak Cliff High in Dallas to consecutive state titles. He knows how to win.

5. Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 freshman guard: At Chicago Crane High, Collins was one of top football players, basketball players and baseball players in the state. He’s a muscular ballhandling wizard who shoots well from long range and is a born winner.

6. Russell Robinson, 6-foot-1 junior guard: He’s not as flashy as some teammates, but nobody is tougher and more determined than the graduate of New York City basketball factory Rice High. He’s among the best defensive players in the Big 12.

7. Sasha Kaun, 6-foot-11 junior center: The most physical player on the team, Kaun does a superior job of establishing inside position. He came late to the game, so it’s possible his shaky hands and poor free throw shooting could improve. His elbows are razor-sharp and he runs the floor well.

8. C.J. Giles, 6-foot-10 junior forward: NBA scouts are intrigued by his potential because he is so fast getting up and down the floor, moves his feet well on defense, has great leaping ability, and a knack for blocking shots. Giles has a soft shooting touch, but has not yet put it all together in a way that makes him a consistent player at the collegiate level. Tends to shy from contact.

9. Darnell Jackson, 6-foot-8 junior forward: Next to Kaun, he’s the team’s most physical player. And like the rest of KU’s big men, he runs the floor well. He might have a difficult time getting minutes because of KU’s depth, so it would behoove him to consider redshirting a year to extend his stay at KU.

10. Brady Morningtar, 6-foot-3 freshman guard: A graduate of Free State High and the son of former KU player Roger Morningstar, Brady spent a year at a prep school to get ready for competition at the Big 12 level. Minutes won’t be easy to come by right away, but his ability to score in a variety of ways and his instinctive feel for the game will help his cause.

11. Rodrick Stewart, 6-foot-4 junior guard: He transferred from USC, where his twin brother, Lodrick, still plays, and didn’t see much time in his first season at KU. Might be the team’s most creative dunker. His best ticket to playing time would be to become a more fundamentally sound defender because his strength and quickness are such that if he did, he could develop into a defensive stopper.

12. Jeremy Case, 6-foot-1 junior guard: The team’s best shooter in practice, Case hasn’t been able to display the same touch against Big 12 competition. Even so, his ability to get so hot and get off so many shots in a hurry suggests that at some point before he leaves KU he will have a break-out game.

13. Matt Kleinmann, 6-foot-10 sophomore center: He had a chance to become a scholarship player at Division I University of Pacific, and instead opted to become a walk-on at Kansas. In the rare instances he does get a chance to play, Kleinmann displays sound footwork and sure hands. He doesn’t play like a typical walk-on.