“One of the best aspects of college athletics is rivalries, and we are thrilled that our fans and student-athletes will get to experience this Border Showdown rivalry once-again,” said Director of Athletics Jeff Long. “We have quietly sought input from fans and supporters on the renewal of this series and we believe the overriding sentiments are that this historic rivalry should resume. While this series does not include each of our sports teams competing in the Border Showdown at this stage, we feel this is the first step to expanding it in the future. We are excited for this rivalry to begin anew next year and believe it will be great for all fans of college basketball.”

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas Athletics announced today that an agreement has been made with the University of Missouri to reignite the Border Showdown rivalry that will feature six men’s basketball games, with the first matchup slated for next season on December 12, 2020 at Sprint Center in Kansas City. Until 2012, the Border Showdown was known as the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi River.

*Kansas will be the home team in 2020-21. Missouri will be the home team in 2025-26.

The Kansas-Missouri basketball series dates back to 1907, when the Jayhawks and Tigers met on back-to-back days in Lawrence on March 11-12, both Missouri wins. Those contests were the first of 269 meetings between the border rivals over the next 105 years, with the Jayhawks building a 174-95 edge in the all-time series. Kansas is 89-33 at home vs. Missouri, including 42-14 in Allen Fieldhouse, 65-53 in Columbia and the series is tied at 4-4 in Mizzou Arena.

“Jeff and I discussed the idea of playing Missouri on many occasions, including speaking with other coaches here at KU, and we all felt the timing is right to renew the rivalry,” said Head Coach Bill Self. “Even though we haven’t played the last few years, I know it was something our players and fans missed, and so did I. The interest generated in the 2017 exhibition game was far greater than I envisioned it would be which made it obvious to me that our fans were eager to see a Border Showdown matchup.

“Having coached a lot of games vs. Missouri in my time here at Kansas, I could not be more excited to start this series up again. This is a great experience for all basketball fans and I look forward to the rivalry being reignited in Kansas City next season, and then bringing it back home to Allen Fieldhouse the following year.”

The last regular-season Border Showdown took place on February 25, 2012, an overtime thriller at Allen Fieldhouse. No. 4 Kansas overcame a 19-point deficit during the final 17-minutes to force overtime, where it eventually outlasted No. 3 Missouri, 87-86. With that win, Self improved his record versus Missouri to 15-4 as the head coach at KU. On October 22, 2017, the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers in the only exhibition contest between the two schools, 93-87. The “Showdown for Relief” contest was organized in an effort to raise money for hurricane relief, which was the first time the two teams had met since the historical regular-season matchup in 2012.

In order for KU fans to be guaranteed tickets to the December 12, 2020 matchup against Missouri at Sprint Center, they must be season tickets holders during the 2019-20 season. A very limited number of men’s basketball season tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 1-800-34-HAWKS or by visiting KUAthletics.com. All 2019-20 KU basketball season tickets holders will have first right of refusal for the rivalry game next season at Sprint Center.