Missouri Tigers Annual Game With Arkansas Gets A Name

The Missouri Tigers have now officially named the new football rivalry with the Arkansas Razorbacks dubbing it “The Battle Line Rivalry” presented by Shelter Insurance.

According to an official release from the Missouri Tigers, the clash pits both geographical and historical boundaries. There has been long disputed demarcations of the border separating the two states and many notable alumni of both institutions share ties with the respective athletic programs.

One notable recent occurrence of the tension between the two institutions was when now former Missouri Tigers basketball head coach, Mike Anderson spurned the Tigers to go back to Arkansas, his alma mater.

Mike Anderson gave Missouri Tigers fans their first reason to hate Arkansas, when bolted from Mizzou to coach the Razorbacks on the hardwood. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

The Battle Line Rivalry will be played every year on thanksgiving weekend with the winner claiming the “ line” for their school until the next meeting.

University of Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden acknowledged the new rivalry saying, “We are pleased for Mizzou’s fans to have the chance to embrace this annual rivalry game with Arkansas. The partnership with Shelter Insurance for the Battle Line Rivalry really brings together two outstanding athletic departments and fan bases for an excellent matchup that we are looking forward to seeing develop into a rivalry.”

University of Arkansas Athletic Director and Vice Chancellor, Jeff Long also added, “We are appreciative of Shelter Insurance for stepping forward to help us start the Battle Line Rivalry, an annual series that will soon become a much anticipated competitive rivalry for fans of both programs. With the close proximity of the institutions, fans of each school will have the opportunity to travel to both campuses for games in the series. It is a budding rivalry that will provide outstanding athletic competition while further enhancing the reach of both institutions and the SEC within our region and throughout the country.”

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The corporate sponsorship of this new rivalry is very noticeable. “Shelter got its start in Missouri and Arkansas, so our roots are deep in these two states,” said Rick Means, president and CEO of the Shelter Insurance Companies. “We hope that this new rivalry will be a fun new tradition for college football fans in both states.”

So far the Arkansas Razorbacks have had a tough year holding a record of 4-5. All 5 losses not only came from in-conference opponents, every loss they’ve had has been at the hands of a top 10 ranked team at the time of the loss. Their only wins have been out of conference against Nicholls State, Texas Tech, Northern Illinois and UAB respectively.

The inaugural Battle Line Rivalry game presented by Shelter Insurance will take place on November 28th at Faurot Field. The game will be televised nationally on CBS at 1:30 CST.

It will be interesting to see how well Tiger fans embrace the new rivalry, especially when they still have another school on their mind:

We all know where the true hatred in Tigers’ fans hearts lies. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

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