Kansas and Missouri will square off one more time on the hardwood, with the two schools set to play the final game of their revived Border Showdown basketball series on Dec. 6, 2026, at T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City. Public ticket sales are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 5 through AXS, though ticket prices had not been released as of Sept. 25, 2026.
The matchup marks the conclusion of a six-game series that has bounced between Lawrence, Columbia and Kansas City since the rivalry was revived in 2021, according to the Kansas City Star. Kansas and Missouri used to play each other yearly while both were in the Big 12 Conference, but that annual tradition ended before the series was brought back after a long gap. The six-game arrangement was originally set to conclude with games at T-Mobile Center during the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, per kansascity.com.
A Series Kansas Has Dominated
Kansas enters the finale holding a 177-96 all-time edge in the Border War basketball series and has won four of the last five meetings since the rivalry resumed. The Jayhawks won the 2025 Border Showdown matchup 80-60 in a game played in Kansas City. Their only loss since the revival came in a game where Kansas was ranked No. 1 nationally at the time.
That 2021 revival itself was notable: the rivalry returned after a nine-year hiatus, and Kansas throttled Missouri 102-65 in the reunion game at Allen Fieldhouse, per kansascity.com's account of the game. Kansas' 102-65 win came in the rivalry's return after a nine-year hiatus and marked the first meeting between the programs since the 2011-12 season.
Football Series Swept, Now on Hold
The basketball rematch comes just weeks after Kansas and Missouri wrapped up the opening leg of their separate Border Showdown football series earlier in 2026. Missouri swept both football games in that first leg, including a 38-21 win over Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence on Sept. 11, 2026. The four-game football series, which began in 2025, is now on hiatus until a home-and-home set resumes in 2031 and 2032, with Missouri serving as the home team in odd-numbered years and the road team in even-numbered years, according to the 2022 Kansas City Star schedule. What happens after that 2031-2032 football series remains unknown.
Uncertain Future for the Hardwood Rivalry
The Dec. 6 game is the final scheduled meeting in the revived basketball series.
For fans, the uncertainty only sharpens the stakes of what's being billed as the last scheduled meeting. Kansas fan Liam Kellieghan captured that sentiment, saying there is nothing better than KU versus Mizzou and arguing the rivalry deserves to continue every season. “It has to be yearly,” Kellieghan said, according to the Star's report.
With tickets set to open Oct. 5 through AXS, fans on both sides of the state line will get their shot at seats to a game that, for now, carries the weight of a series finale rather than just another regular-season tilt at T-Mobile Center.
