Mizzou Central

Border War Rejection? Tigers Refute Unwillingness to Play Kansas in Liberty Bowl

Per reports, the Missouri Tigers had no interest in reuniting for the Border War against Kansas. The Tigers have now refuted that report.

Matt Galatzan

Border War Rejection? Tigers Refute Unwillingness to Play Kansas in Liberty Bowl
Border War Rejection? Tigers Refute Unwillingness to Play Kansas in Liberty Bowl /

Back in the heyday of the Big 12, the rivalry between the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks, otherwise known as the Border War, was one of the fiercest in the conference. 

Now, thanks to a thrilling win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Tigers' regular-season finale, the rivalry had a chance to make a comeback, with the Tigers and Jayhawks having a chance to reunite in the Liberty Bowl on December 28. 

However, according to a report from the Action Network's Brett McMurphy, that will not happen, with the Tigers apparently refusing to play against their old rivals. 

The official Missouri Football account has since tweeted in response to McMurphy's report and has denied those claims. 

“Not True," Missouri Tweeted. "looking forward to our bowl game vs. any team!"

Kansas was reportedly open to the matchup.

McMurphy now projects Missouri to play in the Gasparilla Bowl against East Carolina, while he sees the Jayhawks playing Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.

It will be the third straight bowl game for the Tigers.

Unfortunately, the two teams have not played one another since 2011 - the Tigers' final year in the Big 12 before heading to the SEC in 2012. 

Missouri ended the series in 2011 with three straight wins over the Jayhawks, 57 wins, 47 losses and nine ties, and had won five out of the last six matchups.

In 2007, the two teams even had one of the most pivotal matchups of the year, when a No. 4 Mizzou team led by Chase Daniel, took on a No. 2 Kansas team led by Mark Mangino as head coach.

Mizzou won that game 36-28 and went on to play for a Big 12 title.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of MizzouSportsTalk.com, AllAggies.com and LonghornsCountry.com, as well as the Editor-In-Chief of InsideTheBears.com, TheGroveReport.com, RamDigest.com, AllSeahawks.com, and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com

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