Game of the Week

This rivalry has roots predating the Civil War and a coach and a quarterback who can pick their noses with the best of them. Yes, it's Kansas and Missouri and it's our Game of the Week.

Now we don't mean to pick on Mark Mangino, top, or Chase Daniel, below, but these guys clearly display unique techniques when digging for gold.

But back to the game. Not much was made of the decision in January to move it from Lawrence to Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. Money, of course, was the reason and if Kansas gets beat on Saturday, the person responsible for this might want to consider a career other than athletic department management.

Consider what Kansas did: It signed off on a home-field advantage for the biggest game in the history of Jayhawk football. If it loses, the extra money made by the move to Arrowhead will look like pocket change compared to the prestige Kansas could have had by playing in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Enough of our yakkin'. Let's get to our expert bloggers to break it down. We welcome Cory of the Kansas fan site Rock Chalk Talk and Seth of the Missouri fan site Rock M Nation. First let's hear from Cory:

"Saturday's game between No. 2 Kansas and No. 4 Missouri is the biggest in the history of the Border War rivalry, a rivalry that has lasted much longer than the 102 years of football played between the teams. Not only is this the biggest game in the history of the rivalry, but the biggest game of the season in college football. Big, big, big.

"The outcome will come down to two undersized players. Both quarterbacks grew up in Texas, setting their sights on playing for the state-favorite Longhorns, or at least the Texas A&M Aggies. Both were told they were too small and not talented enough to play big-time football. Kansas' Todd Reesing, barely 5 foot 9, and Chase Daniel, maybe six feet, are now on Heisman lists and leading their teams worlds beyond those of Texas and Texas A&M.

"This game — the biggest of the season in college football, the biggest in the history of this rivalry — will come down to two undersized quarterbacks. Irony."

We turn it over to Seth for the Missouri rebuttal:

"The game of the season (to this point, at least) is the game of forever in this rivalry. And this is the nastiest rivalry you have ever seen.

"For Mizzou to be successful against Kansas, it must stay in a comfort zone and eliminate mistakes, something the Tigers have struggled to do in the past couple of weeks. Similar mistakes against Kansas will be difficult to overcome because of the Jayhawks' ability to run the ball and control the clock.

"Which brings me to my last point — the crowd. A crowd that will be somewhat split puts added importance on creating and maintaining momentum. The team not playing over their heads and within their game plan will win, and I believe Mizzou has been tested more this season and has proven to be able to respond to adversity. The Tigers take the game and the Big XII North, 34-28."