Illinois-Missouri Basketball Set To Face Off For The 41st Time In St. Louis

The Illinois Fighting Illini have lost four of the last five to Missouri in the rivalry game

As the 41st Annual Braggin’ Rights Game against the Missouri Tigers gets set to tip off Friday in St. Louis, lets examine the bitter rivalry by taking a stroll down memory lane in the series. 

The Illini lead the all-time series 33-20, dating to the Illini winning the first matchup in 1932. The series became annually played every December in 1983. Since the matchup has earned the nickname "Braggin' Rights Game, the Illini leads the series 25-15. 

The matchup has been streaky over its history. Notably, the Illini won the first  eight game from 1983-1990. Following this streak, the Tigers rattled off four straight wins from 1991-1994. 

The Illini then won nine straight from 2000-2008. However, the Tigers have dominated the series lately by winning four of the last five, including last year’s 88-63 beatdown.

This hotly contested series has also proven a litmus test for each team as they close out their non-conference schedule before starting to prepare for the Big Ten and SEC slate. 

In the 40 games, the winner has made the NCAA Tournament 30 times. The Illini and Mizzou have both made the Tournament 33 times during the span. 

Now what does this matchup mean this year for the Illini? Despite being heavy favorites, the Illini still have plenty to gain.

For starters, the intensity of the arena will simulate a tournament-like neutral atmosphere. Each fan base gets half the arena because the game is played at the Enterprise Center, which is nearly in the middle of both campuses. It provides similar atmosphere to what both teams could see during March Madness. 

A win over the Tigers would count as a QUAD 2 win, per the NCAA NET Rankings. It is the metric the tournament committee uses in determining seeding. While the Illini wants to avoid a QUAD 2 loss from hurting their resume, the win could develop into a QUAD 1 win should the Tigers play better basketball during conference play.

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Sam King is a contributor to Illini Now. He can be reached at sjking258@gmail.com.