Lance Leipold Weighs In on Who the True Kansas Football Rival Is

KU will face Mizzou next Saturday, Sept. 6, in Columbia in what will be the first “Border War” matchup between the two teams since Nov. 26, 2011 – just a few weeks after Missouri announced they would be leaving the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.

Missouri would go on to win that (supposed) final game by a score of 24-11 which gave them the all-time series lead (56-55-9) in one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in college football that dates back more than 100 years.

Missouri and Kansas have had numerous memorable showdowns over the years, including a 2007 matchup with national title implications on the line that will soon be featured in a new documentary.

Missouri vs. Kansas State

KU has a long history with both Missouri and Kansas State. However, there’s no question who the true rival is for the Jayhawks: It’s Missouri, it’s always been Missouri, and it will always be Missouri.

KU has a rivalry with K-State – albeit a very one-sided one in football for the majority of the past 30 years – but it is not the rivalry.

Many KU fans have a genuine hatred towards Missouri that is rooted in very real life events dating back to the Civil War. In fact, the first football game between Kansas and Missouri took place in 1891 – just 28 years after the infamous “Quantrill’s Raid” when Confederacy advocate William Quantrill led a group of men to sack the town of Lawrence, burning most of it to the ground and killing 150 men in the process.

The two teams’ mascots are even rooted in the Civil War. The Jayhawkers were a group of people who fought against pro-slavery Missourians to help keep Kansas a free state, while the militia who defended Columbia, Missouri, at the time were known as Tigers.

The rivalry between Kansas and Missouri extends beyond sports, and it’s just not like that with Kansas State.

The bad blood and vitriol oozes from each fanbase when KU and Mizzou play each other, and that will be felt from Lawrence to Columbia when these two teams finally meet again next Saturday. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT and can be viewed live on ESPN2.