No matter where we travel or move off to in the course of our lives, regardless of how far we roam, there’s one thing that most of us keep near: a love for our local team. And when “back home” for you means the place where they invented basketball, that’s probably even more true than for most. So we’re pretty excited about next Wednesday, Jan. 12, when the KU Alumni Association and KUsports.com mobile watch party makes its maiden voyage for the KU vs. Iowa State game.

While a watch party’s nothing new, of course, ours has a twist: we’ll be keeping it social by live-streaming video footage on location from our bash at Kincade’s Bar & Grill in Chicago, plus keeping track of Twitter’s chatter with a scroll of tweets with the #kubball hashtag. Check it out Wednesday on the live coverage page on KUsports.com or, if you happen to be anywhere near Chi-town, stop by in person – we just saw a big box of KUsports.com-themed goodies getting shipped off to arrive at Kincade’s in time for the party.

Curious? Here’s the Facebook page for Kincade’s and, of course, the KUsports.com Facebook page and Twitter account. (If you want good game day eats and drinks or a watch site that’s closer to Lawrence, have a look at @KUSportsDeals on Twitter, where you’ll find coupons, contests, events and other local info.) KU Alumni is also very active in the social sphere – check out their Twitter stream and Facebook page. And no matter where you are, you can join the game day conversation by tweeting with the #kubball hashtag – it’ll show up in the live stream, too.

Of course, we’d like to hear any suggestions you might have for future excursions of the KU Alumni Association and KUsports.com mobile watch party, from a location you’d love to ideas for how to bring social media even more into the game. Rock Chalk!