Kansas University’s football team is treating Saturday’s showdown with Missouri like another home game on the schedule.
Even if home is now across a state line.
The Jayhawks and Tigers, of course, made a much-publicized agreement in January to move the 2007 and ’08 Border War games to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The first of the two-game deal is shaping up to be a dandy – No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Missouri are a combined 21-1 this season. Both are holding onto national-title aspirations, and both feature quarterbacks in the Heisman Trophy race.
Before the deal was done, Saturday’s 7 p.m. game originally was scheduled to be at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. From a competitive standpoint, it’s hard to argue that at least a little edge was lost with the move, considering there could be up to 10 times as many MU fans at Arrowhead then there would have been in Lawrence.
But in the week leading up to the anticipated Border War battle, the move to Kansas City is not a decision KU officials are second-guessing.
“We have no regrets at all,” associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said. “We think we’ll have more fans there than we would have had in Lawrence. It’s going to be a packed house at one of the NFL’s premier stadiums.
“Most importantly, the kids are looking forward to playing there. They’re excited about playing there.”
The Jayhawks (11-0 overall, 7-0 Big 12 Conference) will keep their routine as normal as possible in preparation for Mizzou. They will practice all week in Lawrence, sleep in their own beds Friday night and make just one trip to Kansas City before the game – a Friday visit to see the stadium and get a feel for the field.
An empty Arrowhead, though, won’t do it justice. The 79,451-seat venue is sold out, and the split crowd expects to be rowdy with so much on the line.
It’s that type of atmosphere that has the Jayhawks looking forward to Saturday’s game – not back to what could’ve been.
“Our kids have proven they’ll play anywhere in any venue and play well and play hard,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “I’m not second-guessing it. Not at all.”
Of course, there’s no point to now. The deal has been done for close to a year, and KU has approached the 2007 season knowing where the last regular-season contest would be.
In KU’s eyes, Memorial Stadium’s work is done this year. The Jayhawks now call Arrowhead Stadium home for a week – with no regrets.
“Obviously, you’d love to be able to play at home and have your crowd behind you and have another chance to play at Memorial Stadium,” KU quarterback Todd Reesing said. “But I think that the atmosphere we’re going to have at Arrowhead is probably going to be unbelievable and something we’re going to remember for a long time. I think it will be fun.”
