The Border War is Back!

The most underappreciated rivalry in college sports is back on the gridiron this weekend as the Border War takes place for the first time since 2011 between the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers football teams this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Columbia, Mo. on ESPN2.

For those who didn't know, these two teams HATE each other. Whether it's football, basketball, baseball, or even soccer, this rivalry runs deep.

I won't sit here and give you a complete history lesson, but this rivalry stems back to the 1850s. When the Civil War began, the animosity that developed during the kansas territorial period erupted in particularly vicious fighting. In the opening year of the war, six Missouri towns and large swaths of western Missouri were plundered and burned by various forces from kansas generically termed jayhawkers.

This eventually led to an attack on lawrence led by William Quantrill. Quantrill had earlier been a resident of lawrence, teaching school there until the school closed in 1860. Quantrill also attacked the nearby town of Olathe, causing chaos during the Civil War.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the first time these two teams have faced off on the football field since 2011. Old college football fans might remember some fun matchups between the two teams during the Big XII days, but when Mizzou left for the SEC, kansas acted like the babies they are and refused to play the Tigers anymore.

In case you're wondering why they have been scared, look no further than this tweet below:

I know what you're going to say... Well kansas isn't a football school, they are a blue blood basketball school... Well... let's take a look at what happened in Columbia last year when kU came to Mizzou Arena.

A good ol' fashion court storming.

If you still don't believe me that these schools don't like each other, do some searching on X and see what you find...

Some of my earliest memories as a Mizzou fan involve the Border War game that was always played at Arrowhead between the two teams.

Let's take it back to 2007 where the No. 4 ranked Tigers were playing the No. 2 ranked jayhawks.

Mizzou jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 3rd quarter before kU crawled back to make it a 34-28 game with the ball back late in the contest... The rest of the game can be told in one clip.

Hang that shit in the fucking Louvre. One of the most iconic pictures in Mizzou athletic history. That win led the Tigers to being ranked No. 1 in the next week polls before losing to Oklahoma in the Big XII championship game.

Looking forward to Saturday, kU enters the game 2-0 with wins over Fresno State and Wagner while Mizzou took care of business last Thursday night in their home opener over Central Arkansas, 61-6.

I hate the state of kansas, I hate the blue and red colors, and the jayhawk has to be one of the worst logos in college sports.

Mizzou is favored -6.5 and it has been disappointing to see some of the big Barstool personalities back kU +6.5, but get out of Saturday with a win and I don't care what the score is.

For real though, take some time and explore this rivalry on the gridiron and hardwood from recent years.

Not to mention, the 4th quarter playing of Mr. Brightside is going to hit like crack.

This isn't just another game. THIS IS A DAMN WAR.

M-I-Z F-K-U!