The Rivalry

It was another great Tiger win today in the Border Showdown between the universities of Missouri and Kansas.  It's the second oldest college football rivalry in the nation.  Today's 24-10 Mizzou victory was the 120th playing of the game, the first of which was played in 1891.  The oldest rivalry is between Minnesota and Wisconsin who have played 121 times. 

The game was played in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.  The first 16 MU-KU football games were played in Kansas City.  Later the schools changed to home-and-away locations.  The KC site was renewed in 2007. 

Missouri has won 3 straight over Kansas and 5 out of the last 6.  When Missouri moves to the Southeastern Conference next year, they would like to continue to play Kansas as a non-conference game, but Kansas appears to be reluctant to play us. 

Some say the bitterness between Missouri and Kansas goes back to the Civil War.  While the two schools maintain diplomatic relationships, they don't even agree on the series results, as MU claims it had the lead at 56-54-9 before today's game, while KU claimed that it was tied at 55-55-9. The dispute goes back to the 1960 season, when unranked KU came to Columbia and upset undefeated and #1-ranked Mizzou, 23-7. The win was later forfeited by KU after the Big 8 Conference ruled that ineligible players took the field for the Jayhawks. Kansas counts the result on the field in their record books, while MU counts the forfeit in its win column. The loss remains as likely the most bitter in Tiger history, as it cost MU a chance at its only national championship, as the Tigers went on to finish 10-1 on the field (11-0 in the record books with the forfeit), and ranked 5th after defeating Navy in the 1961 Orange Bowl.

My favorite MU-KU game was in 2007 when Mizzou won for the second straight year against Jayhawks, claiming a thrilling 36-28 win over KU at Arrowhead Stadium. Nicknamed "Armageddon at Arrowhead," the game featured 11-0 and 2nd-ranked Kansas against 10-1 and 3rd-ranked Mizzou, with #1 LSU having been upset the night before - meaning the winner would likely ascend to #1 in the polls.  The post-game photo below of KU QB Todd Reesing is a favorite of all Tiger fans.  Unfortunately Missouri's No. 1 ranking only last one week. 

M - I - Z  .............................Z - O - U  !!!!!!!!!