Analyzing the Battle Line Rivalry: Is it a rivalry yet?
What makes a rivalry great?
Before the big game moments, before the players, before any of it, longevity determines the legitimacy of a rivalry.
The Battle Line Rivalry between Arkansas and Missouri only has 13 meetings with a 70-year gap a part of it.
Missouri and Arkansas first met in 1906 and wouldn’t meet again until 1944, and then again 1963. From there the two teams didn’t see each other again until 2003 in the Independence Bowl.
The rivalry didn’t become annual until Missouri joined the SEC in 2014. After some local influence, the two schools became cross-division permanent rivals, calling their meeting the “Battle Line Rivalry.”
Missouri holds the series lead, winning nine games, but since the game became annual, only two teams have been ranked entering the game (2014 Missouri; 2021 Arkansas).
It’s obvious the the teams, and perhaps the league, are forcing a rivalry but the fans of both schools or the national audience, do not get hype for this game.
Good try, but we’ll need to see more meaningful battles before the Battle Line Rivalry is important.
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