It's been a long time since two of the biggest rivals in sports have faced off, just about 13 to be exact. In that time, Mizzou has left the Big 12, rebuilt, and became one of the biggest threats in the SEC Conference, and the entire NCAA, while Kansas has shown flashes, but has struggled in recent seasons.
None of the past matchups or records matter going into a game like this. When you face a rival, it tends to mean more than any other game. Kansas is coming into town with a chip on their shoulder, looking to cause a serious upset, early into the season.
The Jayhawks have started the 2025-26 campaign with a strong, 2-0 start, placing themselves highly within the Big 12 Conference. Their first two contests saw them blow out Fresno State and Wagner, an FCS program, by a combined scoring of 77-14.
Despite the lackluster compeition in their pair of games this season, Kansas fans have to love the performance on both sides of the ball. They've gotten off to a hot start, and finished the game, in both of their tests so far.
Their quarterback is senior Jalon Daniels, whose looking to make a push for NFL rosters in next year's NFL Draft. The California native has struggled with injuries throughout his now-six year career, all with the Jayhawks, but he's shown good things on tape, and has overcome each obstacle thus far.
The dual threat has started well, tossing seven touchdowns and only one interception so far, to go along with 450 yards passing on 80% completion percentage. On top of injuries, turnovers have been an issue for the veteran, so fans and coaches alike have to be impressed with his start.
A really underrated piece on this Kansas offense is their starting running back Daniel Hishaw Jr., who's in his fifth season for the Jayhawks in six seasons. He's taken a step-up virtually every season he's played, and is averaging nearly six yards a carry so far.
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold will likely look to exploit a Tiger run defense that struggled a bit agaisnt Central Arkansas, last Thursday evening.
Coach Leipold is Wisconsin-grown veteran coach, who played quarterback and wide reciever for Wisconsin-Whitewater, before leading them to six NCAA Division III Championships from the sidelines.
He then coached Buffalo before heading to Lawerence to take over for Les Miles in 2021. Since then, the Jayhawks have broken .500 once, when they went 9-4 in 2023, where the season ended with a Guranteed Rate Bowl victory, 49-36, versus UNLV.
Adding to the very experienced starting lineup offensively is senior Emmanuel Henderson Jr., who has nine grabs for 154 yards and a pair of scores in his first two games since transferring from Alabama.
Henderson is someone that the Crimson Tide really liked as a recruit, but at a school that is always deep at reciever, he never found consistent snaps. So he took what could be his final season of eligibilty over to Kansas, and he's already surpassed his career totals in catches, yards, and touchdowns in two seasons at Alabama, in just two contests, and he's sure looking to build on it this weekend.
Defensively is where this team lacks. They don't have a great tackler that constantly comes up big for them. It'll be up to new Mizzou quaterback Beau Pribula on how he wants to take over the momentum early on in this one.
Kansas hasn't taken down the Tigers since 2008, when the majority of both programs were infants, if even born yet. However, these teams haven't faced off when both were legitimately competitive in even longer than that, dating back to 2007.
Mizzou should be able to walk away with this one, with many fans hoping to see highly-touted freshman quarterback Matt Zollers and the second string come in. However, a rival is always unpredictable, and the Tigers will need to work hard to defend their home field this weekend.