Rivalry Revelry All right, raise your hands if you thought that Kansas and Missouri would be ranked 2nd and 4th in the country, respectively, with the winner of the Border Showdown (all political correctness out of the way---it's the Border War) probably moving to the number one ranking in the BCS and the inside track to a spot in the national championship game. Uh, Nostradamus, even you couldn't have predicted this. And that's why it makes the game even more delicious for Tiger and Jayhawk fans.

When die hard sports lovers across the country are asked to name the bitterest rivalries, Mizzou and KU might not get into the discussion for a long time, if at all. Yankees-Red Sox, Michigan-Ohio State, Lakers-Celtics, Bears-Packers, even Rangers-Islanders primarily come to mind. And we in the Midwest would probably say Cubs-Cardinals before getting to MU-KU. But none of the aforementioned rivalries ever began over actual bloodshed, treachery and loss of life--Quantrill, John Brown, etc. So the Kansas-Missouri border tangle had fiery beginnings, and those who have an emotional stake in things have kept this rivalry heated over the years, but in sort of a Hatfields and McCoys way----never really playing out on a national stage.

Only once before did this game have stakes (almost) as high as tomorrow night's tilt. 1960. You've heard the story: Missouri was undefeated and ranked first in the country. With future pros John Hadl and Curtis McClinton on their roster, Kansas beat the Tigers, 23-7. It was later revealed that KU knowingly used an ineligible player in the game, and the NCAA gave Missouri the win----giving the Tigers their undefeated season, but too late to save their number one ranking. And it became another bitter grudge between Lawrence and Columbia: both schools count the victory in the all-time series. Several years later, Dan Devine's Tigers ran up a 69-21 win over the Jayhawks---many say Devine did it out of revenge for the 1960 defeat, and many Tiger fans were angry at Devine for not ringing up 70 points---but it led to a classic line from then-KU coach Pepper Rodgers: "I gave Dan the peace sign after the game, and he only gave me back half of it."

No, it hasn't always been like that. The game might be the lead story in St. Louis, Wichita, and parts in between, but rarely raises a blip anywhere else. But that all changes today: 70,000 fans on site, exorbitantly high ticket prices, national television, and unchartered waters of January bowl games and (dare I say?---oh, dare to say, dare.) a BCS championship. And with raised stakes come raised emotions---all those fans, having all day to get tanked up, added to all those already fired up feelings? I can hear ABC's legendary Keith Jackson calling it "a barnburner. And not only will it burn down the barn, it'll take a couple of rows from the cornfield with it."

I think that it's safe to say that no one would have seen this coming. But as wacky a season as it has been, why not have college football's biggest little rivalry play a key part in determining the champion? (Missouri 41, Kansas 35) ¶ 9:45 PM