The Missouri Tigers haven't played smash-mouth football with the the Iowa Hawkeyes in 100 years. It wasn't supposed to be that long. The Tigers and Hawks had an agreement to play a four-game, home-and-home series from 2005 to 2008. But Missouri backed out of the first two dates to play Arkansas State and Ole Miss because (it pains me to write) Iowa was too good.
There's no backing out now. The Tigers and Hawks will meet December 28th in the Insight Bowl. The question is: Will Tiger fans show up?
Missouri athletic director Mike Alden knows that may be a problem since they don't have
the best reputation for traveling to games (via SB Nation Kansas City):
"We need Tiger Nation to come out in full force forI've been to the Insight Bowl, and Tempe in late December is a greatthis game, the Phoenix area is a great destination this time of the
year, and this promises to be one of the better bowl matchups around,"
he said.
place to be. We'll have to see if Tiger fans agree.
As for backing out of the series with the Hawks, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel explained to the Cedar Rapids Gazette why the Tigers wanted out of the series:
"When we first got here we adjusted our schedule a little bit because they are good," Pinkel said. "We were building our program, and it didn't make a lot of sense for me to play such a great football program. So that was working with (Missouri Athletics Director) Mike Alden, and I would say that was a good decision."Looks like it was the right decision. The Tigers are now 10-2, Big 12 North Division runners-up. The Hawks are 7-5 with three of those losses coming in consecutive weeks to end the season. It'll be a fun match up, and answer one of those what ifs since Missouri won't be joining the Big Ten any time soon.
