Were you born to hate KU? Would you do anything to see KU lose? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you are most likely an MU fan. Missouri versus Kansas is one of the oldest and most renowned college rivalries of all time. Of course, MU and KU aren't the only college rivalries. All kinds of college rivalries exist around the nation. One could name any college and find that it has a rival. Most of the time, rivalries are thought of as nothing more than a little competition between friends, die-hard fans, and players. Every college rivalry has its benefits and also its setbacks.
College rivalries can make the worst of teams play good, even if for that one game. Take for example the Missouri versus Nebraska football game of "97. Everyone thought that Missouri had no chance against the top ranked Cornhuskers. The teams alternated scoring drives; if MU scored, then Nebraska would march right back down the field and score. Nebraska ended up winning on a miracle play on the last lay of the game. MU fans could easily tell that MU was pumped for the game; MU hadn't played so perfectly the whole season. The tigers showed that they were pumped for that rivalry game.
Not only do rivalries get the players pumped up, but the fans seem to become more excited and a lot louder. Whenever MU plays KU in basketball, the fans can only talk about the game because of their excitement. When your team wins, rubbing the win into your friends face is so much fun. I always love going to those games because my adrenaline kicks in and I don't have a care in the world. When fans are this focused, the rivalry games tend to be better in all sorts of different aspects.
Rivalries also give great publicity to the schools. Companies release many inappropriate T-shirts and commercials. Some of the slogans are humorous, including slogans like "Beat the Gayhawks" and "Go Mizzou Flip the Bird.
