The Border Showdown is back on the calendar for now, but the long-term future of Kansas-Missouri on the hardwood looks anything but settled.
After a six-year series brought the longtime cross-state rivalry back in 2021, the schools are currently scheduled to keep playing through the 2026-27 season. After that, there are no more games lined up, and it could be a decade or longer before the Jayhawks and Tigers meet again.
Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t sound ready to promise much when he joined CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on an episode of the Inside College Basketball Now podcast earlier this week. He said he is open to continuing the rivalry, but also made it clear that modern scheduling realities make that a complicated ask.
"I'm certainly open to it, but I don't know if there's an update yet," Self said about whether the schools were in talks on a new scheduling agreement. "I don't know where our administration is on a lot of different things.
It's different now - you go to 20 league games, you got the CBS deal with Ohio State, the Champions [Classic] against Kentucky. We're playing in a season-opening game next year in Allegiant Field... it starts running into, how much do you want?
Because our league is a monster."
That answer set off plenty of reaction from Missouri fans online, with some accusing Self of ducking the Tigers. But the bigger issue is bigger than one quote or one coach. Kansas basketball’s schedule is already packed with major commitments, and Self pointed to that reality again when asked about the rivalry back in December, when the teams met in 2025.
"You know what, I don’t know. And it’s not because of me - do I like the game?
Yes. But I also like going to the Players Era Tournament and getting money for the guys’ NIL.
I also like those types of things too, so I think everything has changed on how you approach scheduling. So we’ll approach it in a way that’s best for us moving forward, and my administration will have more to say on that than I actually will."
That financial piece matters, too. College basketball has become increasingly driven by money, and the same goes for the events teams choose to play in. Kansas recently renewed its agreement with the Players Era Tournament through the 2030-31 season, with $1 million in prize pool money, and Self has made clear that opportunities like that factor into how the program builds its schedule.
For now, Missouri fans can circle this year’s matchup as the last one for the foreseeable future. Kansas has won four of the five games since the rivalry resumed, but there’s no sign a new agreement is close. The Border Showdown may come back again someday, yet at the moment the 2026-27 game looks like it could be the final chapter for a while.
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