Why does the Mizzou rivalry still have this much juice?
For the first time in a decade, we play Missouri tomorrow.
During the UTEP postgame, Bill Self called tomorrow’s game against Mizzou “the best game on our schedule” and added that the 2012 Border War was “the most emotional home game I’ve ever been a part of.” He even arranged a pep talk in the locker room by former players, because why not?
Self compared his experience with the Illinois-MU rival as “dislike” where he threw around the word “hate” when it came to KU-MU. While I’m surprised to hear Self lean all the way in to one game—especially since we have a game against Kentucky in January—but I’m less surprised than I thought I would be. Mizzou is still a huge target for Jayhawk fans, and you can’t just write off 170 years of interstate history. The rivalry still has juice in 2021! Who knew?
The 2021 iteration of Mizzou sucks at basketball. It’s December 10, and Cuonzo Martin is already on the hotseat. They’ve already lost to UMKC at home (my Roos!) and lost to Liberty by 21 points. There is not a great chance that this game will be competitive, which is how Jayhawk fans want it to be. Missouri bolting for the SEC started the Big 12’s path to demise; I’m sure their football program now has more money flowing than they had before, but they’ll never catch a whiff of national relevance. (Oklahoma and Texas are bolting for $$$ reasons also, and neither team will make the Playoff anytime in the near future. You hate to see it!)
This particular Border War represents an opportunity to really blow them out, a vicarious venting of frustration and forever-searing animosity, retribution for bolting the Big 12. It’s become clear to me that nothing can heal the wounds here. Back when KU and MU were in the same conference, I always loved having an excuse to dig back into the history—whether it be the root of the entire conflict and the team names themselves (Bleeding Kansas) or … you know, the basketball (I remember being devastated by MU’s upset victory in 1997). The drama here is so compounded by time that it’s hard to measure.
Which brings me finally to answering my question up top—what gives this rivalry this much energy, despite the long hiatus? When Kansas and Missouri play, it’s a 360-degree thing. It’s a vessel to fill with your emotions, a game to—maybe rightfully so, tbh!—project platitudes onto. When the game was announced, I thought it was a somewhat shameless attempt to lock in season ticket-holders, but now that the rivalry has returned, I can see that it means so much more. I suppose that two things can be true! Even current students—none of whom were in school the last time these teams played in a real game—know the real meaning.
A quick tangent about the above tweet that deserves better than a footnote: Really glad KU kids are still sticking with the tradition of absurdly lewd camping group names. When I was in school, the dude reading them could not have performed them in a more deadpan way—I don’t think it was intentional, because he had a miserable vibe, but it really added to the whole effect. Streaker Nation… is it still that same guy? Or is a new person reading the names? Also… AFH has a Wendy’s now?!!!
Zipping back main thread here—our own attachment to the series is its own nostalgia factory. I listed a few of my favorite memories from the series yesterday, and I could easily do 20 more. (Including several visits to the infamous PAIGE ARENA.) Saturday will be an exorcism. If KU is up 20, fans will be rooting for them to be up 40. If they’re up 40… you get it.
While no one on the current roster has played a real game against Mizzou before, it’s really excited to read their comments. “I think the first thing everybody said when we got in the tunnel was, ‘Who we got next’,” Braun told the Journal-World after the UTEP game. “I was looking forward to it before, to be real honest with you, but I'm excited and I know all the guys are excited.” (While the Border War is a big thing for the Braun family, Christian’s brother, Parker, transferred from Mizzou to Santa Clara this offseason).
Can you believe it’s been a decade since the last time we played Mizzou in a real game? It won’t feel like it Saturday. Rock Chalk.