With “Hate Week” and the ensuing game Saturday night fresh in the minds of MU students, a distinct loathing for Kansas is prominent in the minds of Tigers now more than ever.
One of the oldest of its kind in the history of college sports, the 100-plus-year-old Border War stemmed from skirmishes along the border between Missouri and Kansas. The strong emotions carried over into the wide world of sports. There’s no denying that Missouri loves to hate Kansas, and vice versa.
With MU’s decision to leave the Big 12 and enter the Southeastern Conference came KU’s refusal to continue the rivalry that tugs not only on the heartstrings of fans, but also on the cash flow.
Following MU’s last men’s home basketball game against KU, students said they were upset to see the rivalry end.
“It’s a shame,” junior Matthew McCarty said. “A long rivalry like this should continue to last. Even though we moved to a different conference, I feel we should still continue to play them because of the tradition of the rivalry.”
McCarty certainly isn’t the only one to think so.
“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t play us,” freshman Abigail Wheeler said. “Are they scared to get beat? It’s not just MU fans at the game. It’s KU fans there too.”
Despite playing in different conferences, the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois still take on the Tigers every year in the annual “Braggin Rights” basketball game, hosted in St. Louis. There had been some discussion of Missouri playing Kansas out of conference, similar to how the Tigers play the Illini, but those discussions have not resulted in a game being scheduled.
“It’s kind of selfish that they won’t play us,” sophomore Taylor Larson said. “We’re not in the same division anymore, but we should be able to play one game just for the hell of it. We should be able to keep up the tradition.”
According to an earlier Maneater article, KU basketball coach Bill Self said he was under the impression that “the majority of Kansas fans don’t give a flip about playing Missouri.”
Larson also said Kansas should be happy to encourage the rivalry, if only for the revenue.
“Last night was a great game,” Larson said, referring to the close score and the intense go-between throughout the entire 40 minutes. “The fact that we won reiterates that.”