Border Showdown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Border Showdown (formerly known as the Border War and currently known as the Ford Border Showdown due to sponsorship reasons) is the name for athletic events between the University of Kansas Jayhawks and the University of Missouri Tigers. The rivalry traces its roots to the 1850s, when skirmishes, widely known as "border wars", between the two states marked the beginning of the American Civil War.
Beginning in the 2002-2003 season, the series was memorialized in a sponsored contest, under which points were awarded for athletic contests between the two schools. Only sports where both schools compete are eligible for the contests, and because Kansas fields fewer teams than Missouri due to smaller budgets, several of Missouri's sports (such as gymnastics, men's swimming and wrestling) do not count in the Border Showdown statistics.
Missouri won the first Border Showdown contest in 2002-2003 with a 32-8.5 beating of the Jayhawks. The Jayhawks responded with a close 21-18.5 win the following year, and Missouri took the lead again with a 22-17.5 win in 2004-2005.
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[edit] Football
The all-time football series is currently tied, both teams with 53 wins. There have been 9 ties in the 115 games played.[1][2] The schools have an ongoing dispute about the series record. In 1960, Kansas won the game, but later had to forfeit the game due to the use of an ineligible player. Though Kansas counts the 1960 game as a win, Missouri, the NCAA, and most reputable data sources do not. Missouri has an all-time football record of 583-503-53, with 24 bowl games and 10 bowl victories, while Kansas has an all-time record of 542-539-58, with 4 bowl victories in only 10 bowl games.
- The Tigers and Jayhawks first met on the gridiron on Halloween in 1891 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Jayhawks pulled out a 22-10 win in that first game.
- In 1909-1910, both squads entered the game undefeated (Missouri at 6-0-1, and Kansas at 8-0). Two dropkick field goals propelled the Tigers to a 12-6 victory, an undefeated season, and a Missouri Valley title.
- 19 of the first 20 games were played in Kansas City, with the 1917 contest played in St. Joseph. In 1921, the game began to be played on the respective college campuses, where it would be played (with the exception of 1953 and 1954, when it was played in Kansas City, MO) for the next 94 years. The 1921 game was played in Columbia, Missouri, and alumni from MU were asked to "come home" to Rollins Field, giving rise to the tradition of homecoming. That first homecoming game resulted in a 3-3 tie between the schools.
- Kansas held the early advantage in the series, with a 14-4-4 advantage from 1891 through 1922. The Tigers rebounded with a 10-5-1 record in the next 16 years, but Kansas led 5-0-1 during the next 6 years (1939-1944), holding the Tigers scoreless each year.
- The Tigers dominated the series for the next 35 years through 1979, holding an advantage over Kansas of 24-8-3. During that period, Kansas only had two 2 game winning streaks, while Missouri held winning streaks of 5 games, 4 games, and 3 games (3 times).
- The series has been relatively even since 1980, with Kansas holding a 21-15 edge. The last six years, 2001-2006, have seen the squads split, with both picking up 3 wins a piece. With their 42-17 home victory in 2006, Missouri won the latest game.
- In late 2006, the schools signed a two-year agreement to play the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. While the capacity of the Kansas City Chiefs home ground, at 77,000, is much bigger than either Memorial Stadium in Lawrence (50,000) or Faurot Field (68,000), many fans of both schools, and merchants in both Columbia and Lawrence, have expressed reservations about the move, since it requires each to give up a home game. While Kansas City has a much larger percentage of Jayhawk fans than Tiger fans and many Missouri season ticket holders come from St. Louis, expected attendance for the games is expected to be relatively even between both schools.
[edit] Basketball
Kansas leads the all-time series, 163-93. KU has won six of the last eight meetings and 11 of the past 14 match-ups.
- 1906-07 - Missouri began the basketball border showdown in Columbia against the Jayhawks with a 34-31 triumph, and the following day followed it up with a 34-12 beating. This left Missouri with a 2-0 all time record against basketball's founder, and Kansas' first coach, James Naismith.
- 1909-1910 - Each of the basketball teams had players from the team's football squad (Tommy Johnson for Kansas, and Ted Hackney for Missouri). The players picked up where they left off from the gridiron, playing a rough and tumble style that, some stories say, caused James Naismith to exclaim, when viewing the second contest between the two, "Oh, my gracious! They are murdering my game!" Kansas won both meetings.
- 1922 - Kansas and Missouri split their conference games, tying for the Missouri valley title at 15-1. Although Missouri's committee on intercollegiate athletics challenged Kansas to a one game playoff at a neutral site, Phog Allen refused to accept, leaving the decision to Kansas' athletic board and Chancellor, who declined. While no national champions were actually crowned until 1938 when the first national tournament was held, in 1936 Kansas was retroactively awarded a Helm's Foundation National Championship.
- 1923 - Kansas achieved its first regular season sweep of Missouri in 10 years and won the Missouri Valley at 16-0. In 1936 Kansas was awarded a second Helm's Foundation National Championship for 1923.
- 1951-52 - In the Big Seven Holiday Tournament title game, KU wins a 75-65 decision, and Clyde Lovellette plants his foot into the stomach of Tiger guard Win Wilfong. Municipal Auditorium erupts in fury, but Mizzou coach Sparky Stalcup quiets the crowd and encourages sportsmanship on their part. Lovellette is ejected, but Coach Stalcup receives his warmly at the end of the game, as does Wilfong, to the amazement of Kansas coach Phog Allen.
- 1961 - During a KU loss to Mizzou in Lawrence, a bench-clearing fistfight erupts between the two teams. Afterward, KU athletic director Dutch Lonborg suggests the schools discontinue the rivalry.
- 1971 - Kansas defeats Missouri, 72-68 in overtime, to win the final game ever played at MU's Brewer Fieldhouse. It brings the Jayhawks one step closer to a perfect Big 8 record (they later beat Nebraska to achieve the 14-0 mark.)
- 1972 – with Kansas having a poor season and Missouri trying for a Big 8 title, Bud Stallworth scored 50 points in the final regular season game of the year in a 93-80 Kansas win at Allen Fieldhouse.
- 1987 - MU and KU face off in the title game of the Big Eight Tournament. KU's Danny Manning elbows MU's Derrick Cheivous in the eye by accident. Cheivous nonetheless leads his Tigers to the 1987 Big Eight Tournament championship.
- 1989 – Missouri registered the largest victory by a visitor in Allen Fieldhouse, winning 91-66 over probation-riddled Kansas under first-year coach Roy Williams.
- 1990 - The two teams meet in Allen Fieldhouse, with KU #1 and Mizzou #2. The Tigers win, 77-71.
- 1995 – Kansas became the first visiting team to score 100 points in the Hearnes Center, winning 102-89.
- 1997 – Missouri spoiled the Jayhawks' dream of an undefeated season, winning 96-94 in double overtime at the Hearnes Center.
- 2002 - Kansas becomes the first Big 12 team to go a perfect 16-0 through the conference, concluding the season with a 95-92 win in Columbia.
- 2003 - During halftime of the KU-Texas basketball game, former MU coach Norm Stewart is presented a rocking chair by KU. A common chant in Allen Fieldhouse during "Stormin' Norm's" days with the Tigers was "Sit Down, Norm!" whenever he would jump off the bench to argue a call. For the first - and only - time ever, the Fieldhouse crowd told him to "sit down, Norm!" good-naturedly.
- 2004 – Kansas won the final game at the Hearnes Center 84-82 on David Padgett's basket with 2 seconds left.
- 2006 - Missouri upsets Kansas in overtime when KU's Christian Moody misses two straight free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Afterward, however, the Tigers collapse, Quin Snyder resigns as coach, and in the rematch in Lawrence, Kansas crushes MU 79-46.
- 2007 - In Lawrence, Kansas freshman Sherron Collins comes off the bench for 23 points to thwart Missouri's upset bid in an 80-77 win. In Columbia, the Jayhawks' Julian Wright scores a career-best 33 in a 92-74 win, KU's first victory over the Tigers in Mizzou Arena, played on the one-year anniversary of the resignation of Missouri coach Quin Snyder.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Rivalries of the Big 12 Conference |
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| Battle of the Brazos (Baylor - Texas A&M) • Bedlam Series (Oklahoma - Oklahoma State) • Border Showdown (Kansas - Missouri) • Lone Star Showdown (Texas - Texas A&M) • Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma - Texas) • Sunflower Showdown (Kansas - Kansas State) |
