By Seth Herrold
Saturday will mark the 32nd annual showdown between Missouri and Illinois in what has become known as the “Braggin’ Rights Game.” With Kansas not on the schedule and Arkansas a year away from being deemed the Tigers’ cross-over rival in the SEC, the Illinois rivalry has suddenly become the top rivalry for the Missouri Tigers on the basketball court.
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The shoving of this rivalry into the spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. For the third year in a row, both teams enter the game nationally-ranked.
My memories of this rivalry aren’t the fondest. Most Missouri fans are probably like that, though, as the Tigers are just 11-20 in this series. My biggest memories of the series come from 2001-2003. Both teams were ranked in all three of those showdowns with the Tigers being the higher-ranked team. Despite the higher ranking, Missouri lost all three games in front of sellout crowds on national television. Those were the middle three years of the Quinn Snyder era, which was notorious for high rankings early in the season, and the Illinois game was seemingly always where things started to go south. With the exception of an elite eight finish in 2001-2002, Tiger fans try to forget those years. The three losses mentioned came in a stretch of nine-straight Illinois victories in the series, the longest stretch in the rivalry.
The Tigers hung in there, however. It would have been easy after the ninth-straight win by Illinois, where the Tigers trailed the series 20-8, to give up and call an end to the series. That’s what Illinois football did. After four-straight wins by Missouri in the “Arch Rivalry Game,” Illinois killed it by backing out of the series. I miss the season-opening “Arch Rivalry Game” and I’m sure Illinois fans would have missed the “Braggin’ Rights Game” if Missouri had killed it. But Mizzou didn’t back out; they didn’t give up.
The Tigers on Saturday will be looking for their third-straight win in the “Braggin’ Rights Game.” The Tigers haven’t been beating up on terrible Illinois teams either. The Fighting Illini have been ranked each of the past two years and are again entering this year’s showdown. The Tigers are an exciting team to watch this year, but this should be their best test to date. That’s the way it should be, too. That’s what makes this rivalry great. Illinois and Missouri traditionally have strong basketball programs and putting two strong programs against one another brings out the best in both teams. Four times this series has gone into overtime, including a triple overtime thriller in 1993 that the Tigers won, 108-107.
I’m not saying this year has triple overtime written all over it, but if you are a Missouri fan, or a fan of college basketball at all, I strongly recommend this game. It’s a great series and a great rivalry. Illinois is ranked 10th in the nation and 12-0 on the year. Missouri is ranked 12th and holds a 9-1 record. The game starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on ESPN 2.