Mizzou Ready to Renew Heated Rivalry with Kansas

“Yeah, I think rivalries are a great thing for college athletics and college football, particularly regional rivalries,” he said. “This one goes back a long way.”

Drinkwitz even gave a bit of a history lesson for the uneducated.

“The origins of our football name — the Tigers — is based off the militia that was formed to protect Columbia from people from Kansas and the Kansas area,” he said. “This is something that goes back a long way. It’s very deep, and it’s something our team is very keenly aware of. We understand the implications, the importance to our state. We look forward to playing that game — especially having it at home.”

That Civil War-era tension still lingers — at least from Missouri’s side.

“This thing goes back to the Civil War,” Drinkwitz said. “People died in this rivalry. So it’s intense — and we don’t like each other.”

It’s clear that sentiment isn’t limited to the coaching staff. Players like Mizzou center Connor Tollison and defensive back Daylan Carnell echoed the same intensity Drinkwitz described.

According to both, the staff has gone out of its way to educate the current roster on the rivalry’s history, through team meetings, history lessons, and highlight videos, to make sure they understand what’s at stake.

“It’s a big one, I think the fans are excited," Tollison said. I’d say us players — and I bet they are too — are excited to renew that Border War."

While Missouri already has rivalries with Arkansas and now Oklahoma, there’s something more personal and historic about facing that team out west.

No one on the current roster has played in a Mizzou-Kansas game, but that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from embracing the moment. With the all-time series dating back to the 1800s, and Mizzou holding a narrow 57–54–9 edge, the rivalry returns to Faurot Field in Week 2, where the energy will be nothing short of electric.

As Eli Drinkwitz put it simply: “We don’t like each other.”