It’s not a renewal of the Border War but it’s at least in the same state.
Former Big 12 (and Big 8) rivals Kansas State and Missouri announced on Thursday that they would renew their extremely long series history with home-and-home set in 2022 and 2023. The games will take place in Manhattan on September 10, 2022 while the return date will be September 16, 2023 back in Columbia.
“We are pleased to announce a home-and-home with a very quality opponent in Missouri,” said Wildcats AD Gene Taylor in a statement. “The combination of needing a Power Five opponent on the schedule each year and being able to work with a regional institution that we have such a strong football history with, made perfect sense for K-State. I know our fans will be excited to play the Tigers again, and we look forward to two outstanding games in 2022 and 2023.”
Missouri leads the series by a significant margin (60-32-5) but Kansas State won the last meeting back in 2011 when the two were both in the Big 12. Part of the reason things are tilted so heavily in favor of the Tigers is the result of how dreadful the Wildcats once were in their Big 8 days but since Bill Snyder arrived in town the series tilted toward Manhattan by a 15-5 margin.
The series itself dates back to 1909 but was vastly overshadowed by the Mizzou’s historic ‘Border War’ games with the other team in the state, Kansas. While those two have seen tensions thawed out a bit in recent years (especially in basketball), perhaps Thursday’s announcement of a home-and-home between these two teams will lead to an eventual meeting between the Jayhawks and Tigers.
Either way, the series completes Kansas State’s 2022 non-conference slate (Tulane and Abilene Christian being the other two games) and gives them a starting point in 2023. Missouri has games against Middle Tennessee and Memphis over the same two year window but isn’t quite set on the non-conference front just yet even with the announcement adding the Wildcats.