Illinois shows interest in reviving football series with Mizzou

New University of Illinois football coach Lovie Smith told reporters on Thursday that he would enjoy playing non-conference border rival Missouri, perhaps, as in past years, in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Smith said, “I’m always in favor of natural rivalry games.  So yes, we would be in favor of that.  We’re gonna be recruiting some of the same players.  We’re both probably about the same distance from St. Louis.  There’s a reason why that rivalry used to be here, and I’m in favor of bringing all that back”.

Missouri and Illinois has been a heated rivalry, but one that, on the gridiron, has most often not been played on a year-to-year-basis.  Only 24 meetings have occurred all-time, with the Tigers winning 17 of those, including six in a row before the school’s last meeting in September 2010 at the Edward Jones Dome.  The Fighting Illini and Tigers first met in 1896.  

In comparison to football, Illinois and Mizzou, in men’s basketball, have a stirring “Braggin’ Rights” rivalry game played every year at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis, usually a few days before the Christmas holiday.  Reinstating the football rivalry could see the feelings and tensions between the border foes ratchet up very quickly.