On February 25, 2012, the Kansas Jayhawks played the Missouri Tigers in one of the greatest games in college basketball history in what would be the final Border War. After being down double digits in the second half, the Jayhawks fought their way back to narrowly defeat the Tigers 87-86 in overtime. While this was an incredibly entertaining game between two top 10 teams, the basis of its greatness is rooted far beyond the hardwood in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas and Missouri have hated one another since before the Civil War period. To summarize in Cliff Note style… Due to ideological differences regarding slavery, the bordering states of Missouri and soon to be Kansas formed militias that raided and pillaged one another’s territory.