Tag: Battle Line Rivalry

LIVE second-half blog and updates: Arkansas football vs. Missouri

The final 30 minutes of Arkansas’ disappointing season are on deck. Follow along for live updates, highlights and more from the second half.

The final 30 minutes of the [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] season are upon us and, mercifully, this nightmare year will come to an end.

The Razorback defense haven’t played their best, but it wouldn’t matter if they did because the offense has been nonexistent. The Hogs have put up 50 total yards of offense and have a grand total of two first downs.

On the flip side, Missouri has 276 yards of total offense, 204 of those have come on the ground and 192 of those are from Cody Schrader – who is on pace to break a lot of records in this second half.

With the 9th-ranked Tigers up 20-0, it’s hard to imagine the outcome of this one being something other than Missouri walking away with the Battle Line Trophy.

Follow along for live scores, updates, highlights and more from the final 30 minutes of the 2023 season from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Can Arkansas end the year with an upset win or will Missouri continue their recent dominance?

Here’s three reasons Arkansas can upset No. 9 Missouri and three reasons the Tigers will continue their recent dominance in this rivalry.

Win or lose, the 2023 season will come to an end for Arkansas football following Friday’s game against Missouri. A year that began with hopes of eight or nine wins quickly went the opposite direction, and the Hogs will not be going bowl this winter.

For now, Pittman’s job is safe. He’ll be back for next season, but the program is in desperate need to end this year with some positive momentum. Unfortunately that is going to be quite the tall task.

Missouri is having one of their best seasons ever and with a win on Friday they’ll finish with 10 wins for the first time since the 2013-14 season. A win would most likely mean that Missouri will be headed to a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Arkansas is 2-7 against the Tigers since the series was official named the Battle Line Rivalry in 2015. Their only wins have been in 2015 and 2021.

The odds are stacked against Arkansas to pull off the upset but records can be thrown out of the window in rivalry games like this one. Here’s three reasons the Hogs can win and three reasons Missouri will continue their recent dominance in this series.

No surprise: No. 9 Missouri heavy favorites to beat Arkansas on Friday

The Razorbacks are clear underdogs on Friday, but have the chance to play spoiler on Missouri’s incredible season.

After being favored the past two weeks, [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] (4-7, 1-6 SEC) is the underdog for their season finale. The Hogs will look to play spoiler when the No. 9 Missouri Tigers (9-2, 5-2 SEC) roll into Fayetteville.

According to ESPN’s FPI prediction model, the Tigers have 71.3% chance to beat Arkansas and win their 10th game of the year. If Missouri is able to win on Friday, it would be their first win in Fayetteville since 2017.

The divisive [autotag]Battle Line Rivalry[/autotag] has been extremely unkind to the Razorbacks since its inception back in 2015. Since that win, the Hogs have won just one out of the last seven meetings.

Arkansas last win came in 2021, when they beat the Tigers 34-17 to finish the year 8-4 and earn a trip to the Outback Bowl. Dating back to when Missouri joined the SEC, the Hogs are just 2-6 against the Tigers. That record would be 2-7, but Missouri was forced to vacate all wins from the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Kickoff for Friday’s game in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on CBS.

Missouri looking to finish off best season since 2014

Missouri is hoping Arkansas doesn’t spoil its 10-win season on Black Friday in Fayetteville.

Arkansas native Eli Drinkwitz is hoping to secure Missouri’s first 10-win season since 2014 on Friday in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The No. 10 Tigers (9-2) will come into the Battle Line Rivalry looking to win it for the seventh time in eight tries.

Drinkwitz was hired in the same offseason as Sam Pittman, and was on the hot seat a year ago after posting back-to-back 6-7 seasons.

He turned a solid 2023 recruiting class and portal finds into a highly successful fourth year, which saw them beat Kansas State in Week 3 with a 61-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis and only lose to LSU and Georgia by a combined 19 points.

In two SEC road games besides Georgia, Missouri beat both Kentucky and South Carolina by identical 38-21 margins.

A win on Friday would most likely secure a New Year’s Six bowl bid for the Tigers.

Missouri game moved to Black Friday on CBS

Arkansas and Missouri will play the ‘Battle Line Rivalry’ on the day after Thanksgiving yet again in 2023.

Arkansas and Missouri have been playing the ‘Battle Line Rivalry’ annually since 2014.

It was announced Thursday that the game will be moved to Friday, Nov. 24, with a 3 p.m. kickoff on CBS.

Every game except for the 2020 version, which took place in December because of COVID-19, has been played on the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday.

This year’s game will take place at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas won the last meeting in Fayetteville in 2021, 34-17.

Missouri won last year’s matchup, 29-27.

Arkansas-Mizzou ranked as a top 25 rivalry on the basketball court

Arkansas-Missouri, The Battle Line Rivalry is one of the best rivalries in college basketball

When Missouri jumped from the Big 12 to the SEC, Arkansas was declared the Tigers’ conference rival.

On the football field, the rivalry hasn’t amounted to much importance in the grand scheme of things, but according to College Basketball Report, the Battle Line Rivalry is one of the best in college basketball.

This rivalry can be attributed to the coaches, with Musselman being one of the most charismatic coaches in college basketball, which can irritate anybody. Also, he snatched one of Mizzou’s best players last year, Trevon Brazile, which probably irritated the Mizzou coaching staff.

Missouri would get their revenge, handing the Hogs a tough three-point loss, ending a five-game losing streak against Arkansas that frustrated Musselman. However, just like on the football field, this rivalry still needs more substance before it can be significant to the national audience.

Three reasons why Arkansas will beat Missouri on Friday

Arkansas and Missouri meet again with both teams trying to avoid finishing the season on a disappointing note.

Arkansas football returned to the win column after a two-week hiatus following a 42-27 upset win over No. 14 Ole Miss. This week is a much easier challenge, on paper, when the Hogs travel to Columbia to face the 5-6 Missouri Tigers.

Last week went a long way in changing the perception of what was looking like a disappointing season, but there’s still work to be done.

Arkansas is 0-5 all-time in Columbia and trails Missouri in the all-time series 4-9. The Battle Line “Rivalry” hasn’t been too kind to Arkansas since it became an annual matchup in 2014, as the Hogs are just 2-6 against the Tigers in that span.

The matchup has had a few good games, but for the most part it’s been an annual meeting of two programs on different trajectories. This season, the narrative surrounding this game is similar in that both teams are trying to avoid disappointment.

For Missouri, a loss would mean they would not be bowl eligible for the first time since 2019 and the first time under Eli Drinkwitz’s leadership.

For Arkansas, a loss would undo a lot of goodwill and optimism that was gained from last week’s win over Ole Miss while simultaneously limiting their list of possible bowl destinations.

Arkansas is the favorite for Friday’s game, but history is not on their side. Here’s three things, that if done well, will lead to the Hogs’ first victory at Missouri in program history.

Analyzing the Battle Line Rivalry: Is it a rivalry yet?

The Battle Line Rivalry between Missouri and Arkansas still doesn’t have much of a rivalry feel to it.

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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Which Missouri will Arkansas see on Saturday?

Missouri may have a sub-.500 record but Arkansas cannot overlook the Tigers.

Which Missouri will Arkansas see?

The Missouri Tigers are 5-6, second to last place in the SEC, one game in front of Vanderbilt. On its face, it doesn’t look like Mizzou is much to be afraid of.

The record doesn’t tell the full story of their season or how good this team could be.

The average margin of points the Tigers loss by this season is ten points and it wouldn’t be that high if it wasn’t for the 42-point loss they suffered against Tennessee a couple weeks ago.

Other than that, the other five losses for the Tigers have been one poessision games. Of course the most notable is the 26-22 loss to the defending champs and top ranked team in the nation, Georgia.

Missouri held the lead in that game for 56 minutes until Georgia scored late in the fourth quarter.

They beat South Carolina, holding Spencer Rattler to probably his worst game of the season (who would later drop six touchdowns on Tennessee).

Trying to figure out which team will show up on Saturday makes this an interesting game and one the Razorbacks cannot underestimate.