By Seth Herrold
Thursday night, the Missouri Tigers went in the annual Braggin’ Rights Game against Illinois with a perfect record. After a hard-fought game against a quality opponent, the Tigers came away with that perfect mark still intact and bragging rights for another year.
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There are a lot of people who say this game, this rivalry for that matter, is over-hyped, over-rated and comes nowhere close to the Border War with Kansas. Say what you want, but the Braggin’ Rights Game will be played again next year, the Border War, most likely, will not.
I have given Illinois a lot of flack over the recent year or two since they backed out of the Arch Rivalry football game with the Tigers. Mizzou took all four football games the two played in the most recent series, but in basketball I will give Illinois credit for keeping this game going. The Tigers took seven-of-10 Braggin’ Rights Games in the 90’s, but the two schools continued to meet in St. Louis for the annual rivalry game, which began in 1980. The Tigers have now won three in a row and could win the next four or five and you would still see this game being played out year in and year out.
The Braggin’ Rights Game has been a pretty good one over the years. Like every annual rivalry, there are the occasional blowouts, but this one has been a tightly-contested game in most years. Four overtime games have been played in the series, including a three overtime game in 1993, which Missouri won. Missouri and Illinois have both been ranked in the last two meetings and the two teams were both ranked in eight of the 31 games played in the series. Adding to the excitement of the rivalry is the upset factor. Ranked teams have been knocked off by unranked opponents six times in the series.
The majority of Tiger fans I know who have attended the Braggin’ Rights Game come back saying the atmosphere is great and that they weren’t expecting it to be what it was. It truly is a great game for college basketball and the fans. All the key elements of a great rivalry are there. Close proximity of the teams, a traveling trophy, close games and great atmosphere.
I, like every Tiger fan, am going to miss the Border War if Kansas refuses to put Missouri on their schedule next year. That doesn’t mean Missouri won’t have an enjoyable rivalry game, however. In fact, without Kansas on the schedule, the Braggin’ Rights Game will probably be amplified, if anything.
We have a potentially great rivalry in our back pocket, more fans need to embrace it.