The Missouri–Oklahoma football rivalry is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

between the

Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Missouri's ...

team of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (forme ...

team of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. The Tiger–Sooner Peace Pipe is the trophy awarded to the winner of the game.

Series history

Missouri and Oklahoma's football teams first played in 1902, and played annually from 1910–95, with only a one-year interruption in 1918 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Tiger-Sooner Peace Pipe has been awarded since 1929.Mascot & Football Traditions
The

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

was formed in 1995, and was split into two divisions. The two universities being placed in different division (Missouri in the Big 12 North Division, Oklahoma in the South Division) prevented an annual matchup. After the formation of the Big 12, the teams played a home-and-home series with three years in between each series (1998–99, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2010–11). The Sooners won the last meeting 38–28 on September 24, 2011. With Missouri's withdrawal from the Big 12 and admission to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

effective July 1, 2012, the future of the rivalry is uncertain. On July 30, 2021, Oklahoma accepted an invitation to join the Southeastern Conference, effective July 1, 2025, potentially reigniting the rivalry. Once they join, they will become Missouri's most played conference rival by a landslide, and Oklahoma's second most behind fellow incoming member Texas.

Tiger–Sooner Peace Pipe

In November 1940, a genuine Indian peace pipe was donated by Dr. John S. Knight of Kansas City to become the traveling trophy of the rivalry. Dr. Knight was a 1923 graduate of the University of Missouri. The peace pipe, in the form of a tomahawk, belonged to Chief White Eagle of the

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

tribe. The peace pipe was believed to be over 100 years old at the time it was donated in 1940. An inscription on the peace pipe reads "Mystical Seven Society Ceremonial Tomahawk Pipe, University of Missouri vs. University of Oklahoma, Dr. John S. Knight –; donor of peace pipe." Winners of each game are also inscribed on the pipe. The peace pipe was entrusted to MU's Mystical Seven and OU's Pe-et, who would share the peace pipe in the end zone at halftime to celebrate the two universities. The society of the winning university would return the peace pipe to its university until the next meeting of the two teams. The Sooners were the first to take possession of the peace pipe following their 7–0 victory over the Tigers in 1940. In fact, Oklahoma was inscribed 19 times on the pipe from 1940–63. After a tie in 1964, OU gave possession of the pipe to MU as Oklahoma had held the trophy so many more times since the trophy's inception. Records indicate that the tradition continued through 1974, but the peace pipe exchange did not take place in 1975. The current location of the pipe is unknown since it was last held by Oklahoma. OU's senior associate athletic director, Kenny Mossman, has indicated that Oklahoma officials have conducted an extensive search of their archives for historical items, and the peace pipe has not been located.

Notable games

2007 Big 12 Championship Game

The Tigers were the Big 12 North's representative to the 2007 Big 12 Championship Game where they faced Big 12 South representative Oklahoma. Missouri came into the game ranked #1 in the AP Poll and BCS standings. However, they were upset (Oklahoma was favored by casinos in Las Vegas) by Oklahoma, making their record 11–2 at the time. This loss also allowed Kansas (11–1) to pass Missouri in the conference rankings, earning them a spot in the Orange Bowl, where they defeated Virginia Tech 24–21 to earn their first BCS bowl victory.

2008 Big 12 Championship Game

The

2008 Big 12 Championship Game The 2008 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game was held on December 6, 2008 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, and pitted two of the divisional winners from the Big 12 Conference: the Missouri Tigers, winner of the North division again ...

featured a rematch between the two schools of the 2007 Big 12 Championship Game. This time, Oklahoma was favored and won handily, 62–21.

October 23, 2010

In their 2010 meeting, Mizzou defeated Oklahoma (then ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings). The game was the site of ESPN's College GameDay, where Missouri set the on-campus attendance record for GameDay.

Game results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missouri-Oklahoma football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Missouri Tigers football Oklahoma Sooners football