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Missouri vs. Kansas

by Kris Lazaro

11/23/07

The Border War has never been as big and as exciting as this Saturday as the surprising Missouri Tigers (ranked BCS #4) hook up against the upstart Kansas Jayhawks (ranked BCS #2) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. This is one of college football’s oldest rivalries, with this being the 116th renewal. Both Kansas and Missouri have each won 53 games in the series, with 9 ties. This Saturday’s edition though will also have huge implications for both teams, as both the Jayhawks and Tigers seek a berth into the national championship game this January.

Missouri +1
Kansas -1

Missouri comers into this colossal matchup behind their star quarterback Chase Daniels. The success of the Tigers stems from Daniels’ downfield vision as the quarterback is averaging 334.0 yards per game in the air. Statistically, the Tigers have averaged 42.5 points per game and allowing 23.0 points per game. The key to the Tigers’ success on Saturday will be their ability to contain Kansas’ equally explosive offense.

Kansas enters this game with a spotless 10-0 ATS record. This is perhaps the Jayhawks’ best edition of a football team, as this team has broken many school records. They have improved drastically in many arenas, including their away record. Kansas is currently unbeaten at 10-0 and hopes to fulfill its hopes of a national championship berth. Led by quarterback Todd Reesing, Kansas is a great surprise this year as this team has surprassed many experts’ prediction. Kansas’ keys to success for this game is to continue to rely on Reesing and their staunch defense (allowing only 14.2 points per game).

The author predicts a tightly contested game throughout with the better coached team prevailing in the end. Oddsmakers have pegged the Jayhawks as a mere 2-point favorite over the Tigers, with the over / under set at a steep 68.5.

Game prediction: 55-51 Kansas.