Braggin’ Rights is a funny thing. I say funny in the sense that, come game time, it’s decidedly unfunny. In fact, it’s quite serious.
Much of the past decade of Mizzou vs. Illinois games has seen the Tigers at a laughable disadvantage. Even during the strange years of John Groce, the Illini always operated with a talent gap that seemed to wide. This is despite the fact that none of the Illini’s five straight wins from 2014 though 2018 were double-digit victories. The Braggin’ Rights rivalry has long felt like streaky contest — five straight for Mizzou, then four for the Illini, then three for Mizzou — but Missouri’s dreadful stretch in the mid 2010’s felt like a missed opportunity to step on Champaign’s collective throat and own the rivalry for the modern era.