One of the historic rivalry games that got the axe during conference realignment was the Missouri-Kansas Border War, which, you know, has roots in an actual war.
Mizzou coaches and administrators have said they’d like to have continued playing Kansas as a non-conference game -- a la Georgia/Georgia Tech, Florida/Florida State or South Carolina/Clemson -- but those in Lawrence haven’t budged on their refusal to schedule a football or basketball game with their longtime rivals.
Of course, it’s a lot easier to have the position of “hey, let’s get back together” when you were the one who decided to leave in the first place. It’s not you, it’s me, let’s still be friends, etc.Gary Pinkel said Mizzou wants to continue KU series: “It would be great. They’re mad at us because we left”
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) July 21, 2014
Full disclosure: As a Mizzou grad, some of my best college memories come from these Border War games. I was four rows off the field when Lorenzo Williams drove Todd Reesing’s head into the turf for a game-clinching safety in 2007, the biggest football game ever between the two schools. I still complain about how cold I was at Arrowhead Stadium when Kerry Meier singlehandedly shredded Mizzou’s secondary in 2008 to push Kansas to a win.
I don’t know how things feel on the Kansas side, but I do feel sorry for Mizzou’s current students that they don’t get to experience something as special as a Border War game. The level of deep-seeded hate between the two schools is something Mizzou doesn’t have yet in the SEC -- I’d even argue their second and third-biggest rivals are both in the Big Ten (Nebraska and Illinois). So of course, I think seeing the Border War come back would be great.
But again: I imagine that’s a lot easier to say from the Mizzou point of view than the Kansas one.