Mizzou-KU football returns to Lawrence for 1st time in 21 years Friday

LAWRENCE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.

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The Border Showdown football edition returned to Lawrence for the first time since 2005 on Friday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The last time Kansas hosted Mizzou, Jayhawks linebacker Nick Reid and company bottled up Tigers legend Brad Smith in a 13-3 win for Mark Mangino’s squad.

The series continued in 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia before moving to Arrowhead Stadium from 2007 to 2011.

After Mizzou left the Big 12 for the SEC, KU refused to schedule the Tigers beginning in 2012, ending the second-oldest running rivalry in college football at the time, until the series resumed last year with Mizzou’s 42-31 win in Columbia.

Longtime Jayhawks fan Corey Lagerstrom, whose daughter attends KU, admitted to being "incredibly upset" when the rivalry went on hiatus.

"The football and basketball is amazing," Lagerstrom said. "That rivalry, losing it was a shame."

Many KU students weren't even born the last time the game was played at The Booth.

"That’s so true," KU student Libby Boles said. "Wow, I didn’t even think about that. I knew it was 20 years, but like, my whole life."

Mizzou leads the all-time series 58-54-9, though Kansas disagrees. The Jayhawks still claim a disputed 1960 win against the Tigers and list the all-time series record as 55-57-9.

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"We were just raised at a certain age that you don't like Kansas — not the people, you just don't like the team," said Adam Cowherd, who tailgated in a lawn in Lawrence near the stadium under a Mizzou-branded pop-up tent.

The trash talk was coarse, sometimes profane, but still somehow friendly — like Lucas Robins and John McKinnon ribbing each other while friends pregamed nearby.

"I’ve known this guy forever, and he’s always been a Mizzou fan," said Lucas Robins, a KU student from Shawnee. "I obviously hold that against him, but other than that, we’re cool."

McKinnon is used to it.

"I grew up 20 minutes down the road my whole life — Mizzou fan, and people always look at me weird because I’m a Mizzou fan surrounded by KU people," he said.

The rivalry has been back in basketball for a while, but football hits different.

"I’d say so," Robins said. "It would mean a little more to us, I feel like, if we won this. We know we own you guys in basketball already."

"It's the crowd and the excitement, more people, just the the buzz. I drove in two hours ago, and people were already pretty excited about it," Lagerstrom agreed.

Mizzou is 1-2 in road nonconference games against FBS opponents since coach Eli Drinkwitz’s arrival, including a 41-34 loss in 2021 at Boston College and a 40-12 loss in 2022 at Kansas State. The lone win was a 45-3 beatdown of moribund Massachusetts in 2024. The Minutemen went winless against FBS teams that season.

Overall, the Tigers are 10-17 in road games during Drinkwitz’s seven-year tenure.

Kansas is 4-4 at home against ranked teams under Lance Leipold, who is in his sixth season in Lawrence. They have never hosted a ranked nonconference opponent at “The Booth” during his tenure.

The Jayhawks are 5-10 overall against ranked foes in Leipold’s tenure, with the most recent wins coming in succession in November 2024 against Iowa State, BYU and Colorado.

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