Braggin' Rights
SportBasketball
First meetingDecember 21, 1932
Illinois 36, Missouri 24
Latest meetingDecember 22, 2023
Illinois 97, Missouri 73
Next meeting2024
StadiumsEnterprise Center
Statistics
Meetings total54
All-time seriesIllinois leads, 34–20
Largest victoryIllinois, 32 points (2005)
Longest win streakIllinois, 9 (2000–2008)
Current win streakIllinois, 1 (2023–present)
Locations of Illinois and Missouri

Braggin' Rights (known for sponsorship reasons as McBride Homes Braggin' Rights, previously Busch Braggin' Rights) is the annual men's college basketball contest between the University of Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference and University of Missouri Tigers of the SEC.

History

First played in 1980, the game takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, during the month of December. From 1980 to 1993, it was played at the St. Louis Arena, and since 1994, it has been played at Enterprise Center. St. Louis is within convenient driving distance of the two schools' home cities of Columbia, Missouri (2 hours), and Champaign, Illinois (3 hours); many students at both schools come from the area; both schools have a large alumni base in greater St. Louis; and the Enterprise Center has a larger capacity than either school's home arena (State Farm Center for Illinois and Mizzou Arena for Missouri). It is traditionally held over the students' holiday break near the end of December and is nationally televised. One of the most closely contested games in the series was the final game held at the St. Louis Arena on December 22, 1993. Missouri defeated Illinois 108-107 in a game that lasted three overtimes.

Before 2000, the series was fairly evenly matched, with Illinois leading the series 11-8 before the game held in 2000. However, the Illini went on a decade-long winning streak under Bill Self and Bruce Weber, while at the same time Missouri basketball floundered with Quin Snyder as coach. Tiger fan frustration with not being able to win one of their marquee games boiled over so much that in Snyder's final game, an 82-50 drubbing in 2005, one fan threw a full tub of popcorn on him while he was exiting the arena. Since hiring Mike Anderson in 2006, though, Missouri's fortunes took an upward turn, culminating in an emphatic win in 2009 with the Enterprise Center playing Prince's "1999" following the victory, as a sly reference to the last time Missouri had won in St. Louis.

The game was not played in 1982, but has been played every year since 1983. The name of the victorious team is engraved on a large trophy that, unlike other college rivalry trophies, does not travel home with the winning team. The trophy is displayed in a glass case in the Enterprise Center lobby, where it occupies either an orange-and-blue or black-and-gold space in the cabinet, depending on who won. The other side has a plastic square reading "THE TROPHY BELONGS HERE NEXT YEAR" in the position where the trophy would go.

Before 1976, the Tigers and the Illini met sporadically. The official first meeting between the two schools occurred on December 21, 1932, where the Tigers hosted the Illini at Brewer Fieldhouse. Illini head coach Craig Ruby, a former star and coach at Mizzou, led his team to victory, 36-24. The following year, the Illini hosted the Tigers at Huff Hall, winning again by 36-24. Over the next half-century, the two teams met nine more times, culminating with a back-and-forth series called the Show-Me Classic. This event began in December 1976 in Columbia, Missouri, at the Hearnes Center, where Missouri defeated Illinois, 76-75. Over the next three years (1977–79) the two teams reciprocated home courts.

This series was replaced by the Braggin' Rights series on a neutral court sponsored by Anheuser-Busch for the 1980-81 season.

Other Mizzou and Illini teams now play Braggin' Rights games, most notably football.

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the 2020 Braggin' Rights game was not held at the Enterprise Center, but rather at the home stadium of Missouri. A coin flip, performed by Andy Katz, took place on November 12, 2020 and it was determined that Missouri would be the host for the December 12, 2020 game.[1][2] Prior to the 2023 edition, it was announced the series would continue at the Enterprise Center through 2029.[3]

Accomplishments by the two rivals

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.

TeamIllinoisMissouri
Seasons played[4][5]118117
Championship appearances[6][7]10
Final Four appearances[6][7]50
NCAA Tournament appearances[6][7]3329
NCAA Tournament record[6][7]42-3423-29
Consensus First Team All-Americans[8]165
Naismith Players of the Year[9]00
All-time program record[6][7]1876-10541708-1223
All-time winning percentage[6][7].640.583

Game results

Games with both teams ranked

(Rankings are from AP Poll)[12]

Winning team is shown. Ranking of the team at the time of the game by the AP poll is shown under the team name.

Date Illinois
rank
Missouri
rank
Winner Score
December 19, 1988610Illinois87–84
December 20, 198954Illinois101–93
December 20, 19951415Illinois96–85OT
December 22, 200198Illinois72–61
December 21, 20021211Illinois85–70
December 23, 20032111Illinois71–70
December 22, 2010219Missouri75–64
December 22, 2011259Missouri78–74
December 22, 20121012Missouri82–73


Series results

Winning team is shown. Ranking of the team at the time of the game by the AP poll is shown by the team name. Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present)

Illinois victoriesMissouri victoriesTie games

Series statistics

  • Series Record: Illinois leads 34 to 20
  • Current Streak: Illinois, 1 win
  • Illinois when ranked: 14-8
  • Missouri when ranked: 6-10
  • When both teams are ranked: Illinois leads 6-3
  • Illinois when unranked: 11-6
  • Missouri when unranked: 8-15
  • When both teams are unranked: Illinois leads 10-3
  • In overtime games: Tied 2-2
  • At Brewer Fieldhouse: Tied 2-2
  • At Huff Hall: Illinois led 3-0
  • At Hearnes Center: Tied 1-1
  • At Assembly Hall: Tied 1-1
  • At St. Louis Arena: Illinois led 9-4
  • At Enterprise Center: Illinois leads 18-11
  • At Mizzou Arena: Missouri leads 1-0
  • Illinois' longest winning streak: 9 (2000–08)
  • Missouri's longest winning streak: 4 (1991–94, 2009–12)
  • Illinois' largest winning margin: 32 points (2005)
  • Missouri's largest winning margin: 22 points (2022)
  • Closest margin: 1 point, four times in regulation (1992, 2003, 2007, 2013) and once in three overtimes (1993)

See also

References

  1. "Braggin' Rights On Campus Dec. 12". University of Illinois Athletics. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  2. "Mizzou wins coin flip, will host Illinois for Braggin' Rights Game". KMOV4 News. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  3. "Braggin' Rights rivalry receives six-year extension".
  4. "Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball School History". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  5. "Missouri Tigers Men's Basketball School History". Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Illinois Fighting Illini Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Missouri Tigers Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  8. "NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  9. "Naismith Award Records". NaismithTrophy.com. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  10. "Illinois Fighting Illini Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  11. "Missouri Tigers Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  12. "Big Ten tournament All-Time Results" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
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