CHAMPAIGN, ILL. • New University of Illinois football coach Lovie Smith wants to renew the series with his neighbors to the west, the University of Missouri.

"I'm always in favor of natural rivalry games," Smith said. "So, yes, we would be in favor of that. We're gonna be recruiting some of the same players. We're both probably about the same distance from St. Louis. There's a reason why that rivalry used to be here, and I'm in favor of bringing all that back."

OK, Smith's off by a tad on his geography. Columbia, home of the Tigers, is 125 miles from St. Louis. Champaign, home of the Fighting Illini, is 178 miles away. But you get the point.

The teams haven't played each other in football since 2010. When the series resumed in 2002, they met six times over nine seasons, with the Tigers winning all six.

The Illini's new athletic director, Josh Whitman, is more guarded on the subject.

"You never say never, but I think that right now, the schedule's been set several years out," Whitman said. "That's been one of the things you're seeing in college football anymore is that the schedules are being set six, eight years in advance.