KU, Mizzou discussing charity exhibition basketball game at Sprint Center

It’s not the return of the Border War, but this is a step in that direction.

Missouri and Kansas are in talks to play an exhibition men’s basketball game at the Sprint Center.

“We are discussing an event, it is very premature to talk about any specifics,” said Jim Marchiony, Kansas associate athletic director.

Nick Joos, senior associate athletic director at Mizzou, said “we are discussing a special event. It’s an exhibition. There are a lot of moving parts, nothing is finalized yet.”

A representative for Learfield Sports, the broadcast rights holder for Mizzou athletics, sent an email to radio affiliates Thursday afternoon that said “The Mizzou Network plans to broadcast a special program from” 3-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22 and asked stations to respond if they “can clear this program.”

The representative wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Star, that he was not at liberty to discuss the special program yet but told the stations “you will be very happy with the content.”

Carrington Harrison of 610 Sports first reported that discussions were ongoing for the Oct. 22 KU-MU game and that the exhibition would raise funds for hurricane relief. When asked if the NCAA would allow KU and MU to play for hurricane relief, Marchiony said “we are discussing that now.”

NCAA rules don’t allow for Division I basketball teams to play exhibition games against each other.

Kansas and Missouri have not played men’s basketball against each other since their final meeting as Big 12 opponents. Kansas rallied from a 19-point deficit and beat Mizzou 87-86 in overtime on Feb. 25, 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse. The Tigers had the ball last but couldn’t get off a final shot with in the game’s final 8.3 seconds. Mizzou beat KU at home earlier that season.

In June, former Mizzou chancellor R. Bowen Loftin told an Alabama newspaper that he believed Jayhawks coach Bill Self was the reason the rivalry had not been renewed after the Tigers joined the Southeastern Conference.

After the comments surfaced, Self told The Star: “I would think that would probably be something that would be a given when asked a question, ‘Would you like to continue or renew the series?’ I think the obvious answer from his standpoint would probably be, ‘Yes.’ From mine (standpoint) that’s a decision that will be made at a university level, not just at a basketball level.”

This story was originally published October 12, 2017 at 2:20 PM with the headline "KU, Mizzou discussing charity exhibition basketball game at Sprint Center."