Missouri’s decision to leave for the Southeastern Conference was one born out of a desire for long-term stability and growth for both the athletics department and the university as a whole. But while the school left 15 years of history with the Big 12 Conference behind, administration made it clear they did not intend to abandon Missouri’s intensely meaningful rivalry with Kansas altogether.
Instead, it seems KU is the one turning a cold shoulder on more than 100 years of history, and the ramifications for Kansas could be harsher than they realize.
Throughout this process, the two schools have had strikingly different attitudes about how to best handle the rivalry if and when Missouri left the conference. In early October, Missouri’s Board of Curators instructed athletics director Mike Alden to explore the possibility of playing an annual basketball and football game in Kansas City with a “traditional, regional rival” if conference realignment became a reality. It didn’t take much effort to realize which rival the school was referring to. (Hint: Not Iowa State.)
Yet when the move was officially made, the attitude across the border seemed much more hostile and uncooperative. KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said in a statement the school was sorry to see the rivalry end, and KU basketball coach Bill Self was quoted as saying, “The majority of Kansas fans don’t give a flip about playing Missouri.”
Both statements give off a defeatist attitude and indicate the KU administration is out of touch with the reality of rivalries in college athletics. There is no rule, written or unwritten, that mandates a rivalry can only be sustained if both schools are in the same conference. A quick look around the college sports landscape will prove this. Rivalries like Florida-Florida State, Kentucky-Louisville and Georgia-Georgia Tech. are as strong as ever simply because both administrations took the time and effort to keep traditions alive despite conference boundaries.
Self and football coach Turner Gill have both indicated they don’t plan on scheduling Missouri as nonconference opponents. This is an example of emotion getting in the way of logic. By not playing Missouri, Kansas misses a chance to strengthen its schedule in both sports. Not only will it punish those fans that’ve enjoyed the rivalry, but it will punish the Jayhawks themselves.
Surrounded by press and excited Missouri fans in the MU Student Center on Sunday, Alden said MU will pursue the “opportunity to continue to play against KU for many years to come.” And then a strange thing happened. The crowd applauded its agreement.
Excited as they are for a new beginning, Missouri fans respect the rivalry and value the tradition the two schools have shared for over a century. They don’t want to abandon the Jayhawks. It’s time Kansas felt the same way about the Tigers.