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.

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

History

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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 ten 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, with the game moving to St. Louis, Missouri, during the month of December. From 1980 to 1993 (excluding 1982), it was played at the St. Louis Arena (originally known as the Checkerdome when the series started), 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.

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

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.

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

Accomplishments by the two rivals

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The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.

Team Illinois Missouri
Seasons played[4][5] 118 117
Championship appearances[6][7] 1 0
Final Four appearances[6][7] 5 0
NCAA Tournament appearances[6][7] 33 29
NCAA Tournament record[6][7] 42-34 23-29
Consensus First Team All-Americans[8] 16 5
Naismith Players of the Year[9] 0 0
All-time program record[6][7] 1876-1054 1708-1223
All-time winning percentage[6][7] .640 .583

Game results

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Games with both teams ranked

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(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, 1988 6 10 Illinois 87–84
December 20, 1989 5 4 Illinois 101–93
December 20, 1995 14 15 Illinois 96–85OT
December 22, 2001 9 8 Illinois 72–61
December 21, 2002 12 11 Illinois 85–70
December 23, 2003 21 11 Illinois 71–70
December 22, 2010 21 9 Missouri 75–64
December 22, 2011 25 9 Missouri 78–74
December 22, 2012 10 12 Missouri 82–73


Series results

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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
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 December 21, 1932 Brewer Fieldhouse Illinois 36–24
2 January 3, 1934 Huff Hall Illinois 36–24
3 December 14, 1942 Huff Hall Illinois 51–30
4 December 18, 1943 Brewer Fieldhouse Illinois 39–29
5 December 16, 1946 Municipal Auditorium Missouri 55–50
6 December 4, 1954 Huff Hall Illinois 77–49
7 December 10, 1955 Brewer Fieldhouse Missouri 74–73
8 December 3, 1976 Hearnes Center Missouri 76–75
9 December 6, 1977 Assembly Hall Illinois 96–85
10 December 5, 1978 Hearnes Center Illinois 69–57
11 December 4, 1979 Assembly Hall Missouri 67–66
12 December 10, 1980 Checkerdome Illinois 84–62
13 December 8, 1981Checkerdome No. 13 Missouri 78–68OT
14 December 20, 1983St. Louis Arena Illinois 66–60
15 December 6, 1984 St. Louis Arena No. 7 Illinois 65–50
16 December 21, 1985 St. Louis Arena No. 15 Illinois 67–55
17 December 23, 1986 St. Louis Arena No. 9 Illinois 92–74
18 December 22, 1987 St. Louis Arena Illinois 75–63
19 December 19, 1988 St. Louis Arena No. 6 Illinois 87–84
20 December 20, 1989 St. Louis Arena No. 5 Illinois 101–93
21 December 19, 1990 St. Louis Arena Illinois 84–81
22 December 23, 1991 St. Louis Arena No. 16 Missouri 61–44
23 December 23, 1992 St. Louis Arena Missouri 66–65
24 December 22, 1993 St. Louis Arena Missouri 108–1073OT
25 December 22, 1994 Kiel Center Missouri 76–58
26 December 20, 1995Kiel Center No. 14 Illinois 96–85OT
27 December 28, 1996Kiel Center Illinois 85–69
28 December 23, 1997Kiel Center Missouri 75–69
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
29 December 22, 1998Kiel Center Missouri 67–62
30 December 21, 1999Kiel Center Missouri 78–72
31 December 21, 2000Kiel Center No. 5 Illinois 86–81OT
32 December 22, 2001Savvis Center No. 9 Illinois 72–61
33 December 21, 2002Savvis Center No. 12 Illinois 85–70
34 December 23, 2003Savvis Center No. 21 Illinois 71–70
35 December 23, 2004Savvis Center No. 1 Illinois 70–64
36 December 21, 2005Savvis Center No. 6 Illinois 82–50
37 December 19, 2006Scottrade Center Illinois 73–70
38 December 22, 2007Scottrade Center Illinois 59–58
39 December 23, 2008Scottrade Center Illinois 75–59
40 December 23, 2009Scottrade Center Missouri 81–68
41 December 22, 2010Scottrade Center No. 9 Missouri 75–64
42 December 22, 2011Scottrade Center No. 9 Missouri 78–74
43 December 22, 2012Scottrade Center No. 12 Missouri 82–73
44 December 21, 2013Scottrade Center Illinois 65–64
45 December 20, 2014Scottrade Center Illinois 62–59
46 December 23, 2015Scottrade Center Illinois 68–63
47 December 21, 2016Scottrade Center Illinois 75–66
48 December 23, 2017Scottrade Center Illinois 70–64
49 December 22, 2018Enterprise Center Missouri 79–63
50 December 21, 2019Enterprise Center Missouri 63–56
51 December 12, 2020Mizzou Arena Missouri 81–78
52 December 22, 2021Enterprise Center Illinois 88–63
53 December 22, 2022Enterprise Center Missouri 93–71
54 December 22, 2023Enterprise Center No. 13 Illinois 97–73
Series: Illinois leads 34–20

Series statistics

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  • 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: Illinois led 2-1
  • At Huff Hall: Illinois led 3-0
  • At Municipal Center: Missouri led 1-0
  • 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 triple overtime (1993)

See also

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References

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  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. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. 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. ^ a b c d e f "Illinois Fighting Illini Index". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "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. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2023.