{"id":844999,"date":"2026-09-12T06:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844999\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T06:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:42:13","slug":"kansas-invokes-civil-war-history-in-border-war-hype-video-for-missouri-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844999\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas invokes Civil War history in \u2018Border War\u2019 hype video for Missouri game"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if \u201cThe Border War,\u201d ranked by The Athletic<\/a> as a top-20 all-time college football rivalry, didn\u2019t already have enough venom.<\/p>\n

On Thursday afternoon, the Kansas football program posted a pregame hype video ahead of its showdown with bitter rival No. 23-ranked Missouri on Friday night in Lawrence, Kan. The video captured big moments from decades past across the previous 121 meetings between the Jayhawks and Tigers.<\/p>\n

The Kansas athletics digital department not only leaned into the historical ramifications of the disdain between the two programs, but also the origin story of how the two states were at the center of the Civil War.<\/p>\n

It is that deep. pic.twitter.com\/4BEcdbLv7S<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kansas Football (@KU_Football) September 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

As of Friday morning, the video had over 16 million views on X and 11,000 views on Instagram.<\/p>\n

For the first time in 21 years, Missouri visits David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Friday. The two sides rekindled their previously dormant rivalry in 2025 after a 14-year absence. Realignment in college football left this heated matchup in its wake after Missouri left the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.<\/p>\n

The video, narrated by former Kansas defensive lineman Gilbert Brown, elaborates on the conflicts that preceded the start of this football rivalry. It\u2019s titled \u201cHEROES AND VILLAINS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLove doesn\u2019t exist here,\u201d Brown said. \u201cNeither does mercy. This rivalry is different. \u2018Cause it\u2019s built on something much deeper than just school pride. It\u2019s fueled by hatred, passed down through generations. Our roots reach back to the Civil War, when blood was spilled over what you believed in, and which side you stood on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the Civil War, Kansas aspired to statehood, but whether it would be a slave state was pivotal. Residents in neighboring Missouri, a slave state at the time, became embroiled in a series of bloody conflicts characterized by guerrilla warfare. Those battles would pave the way for each school\u2019s mascot name.<\/p>\n

Those fighting for the free state cause became known as Jayhawkers. A small band of militia that protected Columbia, Mo., was known as the Tigers, who were formed to protect Columbia against both Union and Confederate forces.<\/p>\n

In the video, Brown speaks over timeworn newspaper headlines from the 1850s and photos of the abolitionist John Brown as well as Confederate guerrilla advocate William Quantrill, who spearheaded a raid on Lawrence that left over 150 dead and much of the town ablaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are heroes and villains,\u201d Brown continued. \u201cOnly allegiance decides their legacy. There\u2019s right and wrong. There\u2019s Kansas and Missouri.\u201d<\/p>\n