Oct 14, 2020

KU: Border Showdown rivalry postponed to 2021-22 season

Posted Oct 14, 2020 12:11 AM

LAWRENCE -Kansas Athletics announced today that due to the unique and difficult challenges COVID-19 has brought to the 2020-21 men’s basketball season, an agreement has been made to delay the upcoming six-game series vs. Missouri by one season.

This year’s contest previously scheduled at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City for Dec. 12 will now take place during the 2026-27 season.

“When the NCAA moved the start of the basketball season from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25, like everyone else, we went to work on creating a new schedule,” said Director of Athletics Jeff Long. “With the Big 12 conference games also being adjusted, and the likelihood of only 10-20% of fans permitted to attend the game due to the pandemic, it became clear that we should delay the series. We appreciate Missouri agreeing to the delay and we look forward to renewing the Border Showdown at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 11, 2021, with a sellout crowd.”

Each school will host two of the first four Border Showdown games starting with Dec. 11, 2021, in Allen Fieldhouse. KU will also host MU in the 2023-24 season, while Missouri will host in 2022-23 and 2024-25. The final two rivalry meetings will be played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., during 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.

“I was excited about beginning this series with Missouri again on Dec. 12, however, it is in the best interest of both of our schools and especially our fans to push this back a year,” said Head Coach Bill Self. “This rivalry goes back a long way, and we want our fans to be able to witness it again in-person. So, delaying it a year was an easy decision.”

Until 2012, the Border Showdown was known as the longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi River.