Missouri Tigers Football Will Play Missouri State In 2017

The year was 1923. America was a few years removed from World War I, unsuspecting of a financial crisis that lied just half a decade in front it. Calvin Coolidge– remember him?– had just taken presidential office after Warren G. Harding past away. And Babe Ruth was still with the Boston Red Sox.

It was also the year that the Missouri Tigers defeated Southwest Missouri Teachers College, 10-0 in Columbia. That was the last time those two programs met on the football field.

However, it seems that this age old (really old?) rivalry is being reborn.

Sep 6, 2014; Stillwater, OK, USA;*Oklahoma State Cowboys wide receiver Chris Lacy (15) attempts to catch the ball while being defended by Missouri State Bears cornerback Eric Greely (38) during the fourth quarter at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Coming in 2017, the Missouri Tigers football program will once again meet the school, what is now Missouri State University, which will be the first time the Tigers have played another school from the Show-Me-State since 1997. This game will break a 93-year drought between facing each other, which is impressive in its own right.

Both schools had long been interested in facing each other on the football field. But Mizzou hasn’t had a good opportunity in recent years to make it work, and MSU has only been scheduling games with power 5 schools in the past few seasons. But after continued calls from both schools’ alumni, they came to an agreement. They will face each other on September 17 at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Perhaps the biggest reason this finally got done was the coach. Not Missouri Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel, but MSU’s Dave Steckel, who took over the role this year after spending 10 seasons on the Mizzou sidelines as defensive coordinator.

It’s likely that the “talks” turned into actual action on the front office side that got this deal done. And it’s a great thing to see. After all, it makes sense that the two biggest schools in Missouri should be playing each other. While it’s no Florida-Florida State or Alabama-Auburn, in-state rivalries are good thing for the schools and their players and coaches.

For Missouri Tigers football, it’s an opportunity to play an early season game that will bring a lot of hype to the community. For Missouri State, it means moving up in the world. Scheduling big games is a huge step towards potentially becoming a more reputable football program. It also sets the stage for future meetings, with Mizzou maybe getting an opportunity to travel to Springfield, an away game that would be a short distance for MU fans and alumni to attend.

Ultimately, this could morph into an annual meeting. Who knows, maybe someday this will be a legitimate rivalry. Besides, college football has made its name on in-state rivalries. They have always been rivalries born out of geography but nurtured over time from that very first meeting.

So maybe it’s been 90 years since they last met. But this could be the start to something much more. You never know…

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