November 26, 2011; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the Border Showdown banner before the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Kansas Football: Winning the Border War Means More Than the Sunflower Showdown

Originally posted on Kansas Jayhawks on SI
By Joshua Schulman | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 1:19 PM ET

Kansas Jayhawks fans have become fixated on breaking the horrific 16-game losing streak to Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown, and rightfully so.

Even in several games that KU could have pulled away and ended the streak, the Wildcats found a way to win at the end and prolong it another year. But despite the pain the Jayhawk faithful have felt from this in-state rivalry, nothing compares to the intensity of the Border War rivalry, now called the Border Showdown.

This Saturday in Columbia, Kansas and Missouri are set to meet on the football field for the first time in 14 years. Although the rivalry with K-State might give some people recency bias, MU was always KU's biggest rival before they departed for the SEC in 2012.

The matchup dates back to the pre-Civil War era during Bleeding Kansas and later went to the gridiron between the two universities in 1891. There have been countless unforgettable meetings between these programs, whether you look at Border War heroes like Tony Sands and Darrell Stuckey II or just the historical weight behind the matchup.

Kansas had lost its last three games against Missouri before the Tigers left the Big 12, leading a new generation of Jayhawks and Tigers to revive what was once one of college sports' fiercest rivalries. Head coaches Lance Leipold and Eli Drinkwitz have had to explain the importance of the series to their players, most of whom were in elementary school the last time these two schools faced off.

While KU is no longer in the same conference as Mizzou, you could argue this game means more than any Sunflower Showdown loss over the past decade and a half.

Fans have been waiting what feels like forever for this rematch, and it just so happens the Jayhawks are playing their best football since those legendary late-2000s showdowns. Leipold has taken the program to its best period since the Mark Mangino era, and it could climb even higher if the Jayhawks can go on the road and upset a formidable Mizzou squad.

Yes, this means more than the Sunflower Showdown. One could argue that K-State being an in-conference rival makes that matchup more important for this season specifically, but before fans should start thinking about Big 12 championship races and sitting atop the league standings, the program also needs to put itself back on the national map.

A win here would surpass even the 2021 victory over Texas or the 2023 victory over Oklahoma. This is Leipold’s chance to record his biggest signature win since taking the job in Lawrence.

We’d gladly take wins in both rivalry games, but make no mistake. The Border War will always reign supreme over the Sunflower Showdown.

This article first appeared on Kansas Jayhawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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