Kansas vs Missouri basketball preview, our experts break down the rivalry clash
Beat reporters Jordan Guskey and Calum McAndrew preview Kansas basketball vs Missouri. The two rivals will tip-off in downtown Kansas City on Sunday.
Dennis Gates didn’t hesitate. He didn’t wait for a question, which would have been coming, to answer whether or not he wants to see Border War come back beyond the currently agreed-to series.
“It’s an unbelievable rivalry, a great contest that I hope can last and we can renew that contract for the next 50 years,” Gates said. “Because it means something to both fanbases.”
There are just two games left in the series between Missouri basketball and Kansas, both on a neutral floor at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. On Sunday, the Tigers and Jayhawks will face off for a noon tipoff in Kansas City that will air on ESPN2.
After four straight on-campus games, two apiece at Mizzou Arena and Allen Fieldhouse, there is no currently reported or signed agreement to extend the series beyond December 2026.
If that is coming, Gates wants to see the matchups back on campuses.
“I would love to just have it on a campus, not a neutral site,” Gates said. “I think the fans of Kansas deserve it. I think the fans here deserve it. So, at the end of the day, that’s something that I hope to work on moving forward to get that done.”
Kansas coach Bill Self isn’t quite so sure.
Self called it “good for the game” to face rivals and said Border War would “always be one of the most looked-forward-to games on our schedule every year.”
But, he was asked whether he wants to extend the series or not, and his answer was quite different to Gates’ comments.
Scheduling has changed, he said, and opportunities to get his players name, image and likeness money now exists in the nonconference months.
“Do I like the game? Yes. But I also like going to the Players Era tournament and getting money for the guys’ NIL. I also like those types of things, too,” Self said. “So, I think everything has changed on how you approach scheduling, so we’ll approach it in a way that’s best for us moving forward, and my administration will have more to say on that than I actually will.”
Those are two very different answers from the Border War head coaches.
It won’t ultimately be their decision whether the series is extended or not, but the variation in answers does seem to indicate less of a willingness on the KU side to extend the series than Gates and Missouri.
Kansas went 3-0 in the Players Era Festival in November. It’s an NIL-driven multi-team event held in Las Vegas. KU earned $300,000 in prize money that it can distribute directly to its players in NIL. The CEO of the event said that each of the 18 teams that participated in this year’s event will earn “over $1 million on average” through NIL marketing opportunities.
CBS Sports reported in October that Mizzou opted out of playing in the 2026 Players Era Festival, which is expected to balloon to 32 teams and come with a guaranteed $1 million for participation. It’s currently unclear if Mizzou ever was signed up to play in the event, but a source close to the program told the Tribune that the Tigers were not.
The last contract agreement for the Missouri and Kansas basketball series, which had a decade-long hiatus before returning in 2021, was signed in 2020 by then-athletic directors Jim Sterk and Jeff Long. Both schools have new ADs, with Laird Veatch at Missouri and Travis Goff at KU.
As it stands, the series is expected to end after next year’s game.
Mizzou (8-1) and Kansas (6-3) will face off, for the 272nd time in the series’ history, at noon Sunday at T-Mobile Center.
For now, that’s the penultimate game in the revived series.
