Tigers vs. Jayhawks: From the Civil War to the Battle for No. 1

Any amazingly insightful story and a great read! I’m a Mizzou grad, but grew up far from Missouri in the SF Bay Area, so I had no clue about this rivalry or the intriguing history that led up to the iconic matchup between these 2 teams. Godich is a fellow fraternity brother of mine who did a tremendous job artfully telling the details of one of the most underrated, but passionate rivalries in all of sports. Honestly reminds of Boca-River or Barca-Madrid in terms of scale and how meaningful the matchups were each year, specifically in football and basketball. As I sit here now the rivalry has been renewed in hoops beginning in 2020, so I highly recommend this book. Flows really well and keeps you engaged throughout, and reminds us of this country’s troubled history with slavery and race relations, then ties them in beautifully with a college sports rivalry unlike any other. Godich was the editor of college football at SI, so he clearly has some storytelling chops.

Lol! I was at that game! Froze my butt off! Good and fun read even if I’m a Kansas fan!

Mark Godich does a tremendous job of capturing what the Missouri-Kansas rivalry is all about. Not only does he take the reader back to the magical 2007 season and the historic big game between the schools, he also takes us inside both programs and the jobs coaches Gary Pinkel and Mark Mangino did in building the teams to the point that they were battling for No. 1 in the country. From the story of how the game ended up in Kansas City, to how Mizzou got left out of a BCS bowl, to so much more … it is all here. The research for this book must have been exhaustive and it paid off with great perspectives from so many people on both sides of the rivalry. In my opinion, a must read!

I thought it was very poorly written. Continuity was poor. Seventy per cent Mo, thirty per cent Kan. Not enough history.

Great history of both football programs and of the rivalry told in an excellent style. Why, oh why, don't we play any more?