http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...ar-may-be-dead

We just got done dissecting Missouri's decision to officially pursue its conference expansion options. The move could put the Big 12 in jeopardy, or at least force it to be more aggressive in its own expansion efforts. Its greatest effect could be on teams like Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and the like -- schools that desperately need that revenue-sharing agreement to hold up, desperately need Texas and Oklahoma to stay put, desperately need to keep the Big 12 together to avoid scrambling for a spot at a less-sensible table.

Needless to say, Missouri's move did not make Kansas coach Bill Self happy. Late Tuesday night, Self told the Lawrence Journal-World that if Missouri goes through with a move to the SEC, he would probably decline to schedule Missouri in a non-conference game each season. That move would effectively kill the Border War (or Border Showdown, if you prefer an anesthetized and politically correct terminology) rivalry -- one of the and mostly deep historic and heated rivalries in college hoops. To wit:

“To me it’s a great rivalry, one of the best in college basketball without question, but I don’t think I would be interested in having a once a year game like I did when I was at Illinois, playing Missouri,” Self told the Journal-World on Tuesday night. [...] “If they choose to be somewhere other than with us and with the other schools that they’ve been a part of and could jeopardize the future of the other schools ... I’m not going to make a commitment now that we’d ever play again. I’m not saying we won’t. I’m certainly not going to pretend that we would.”

The Journal-World suggested to Self that fans, and therefore the media, would clamor for a continuation of the classic series. His answer? I don't care:

“I’m not saying it would be bad or won’t be bad (playing once on neutral court). I will say this ... the media is not going to dictate who we play. I’ll dictate who we play as long as I’m coaching here,” Self said. “I have no ill will toward Missouri at all, but to do something at a time that could be so damaging and hurtful to a group, I can’t see us just taking it and forgetting."

It's hard to disagree. Missouri's self-interested move, whatever the reasons and motivations behind it -- and you can argue those motivations are understandable even if you think Mizzou is biting off a bit more than it can chew -- puts Kansas, perhaps more than any other school, in jeopardy. The Jayhawks don't have many outs. They're a basketball-first school that has failed to attract any expansion interest from the Big Ten or SEC; for a while there, we were wondering whether Kansas would have to join the Mountain West. Why would Self not want to punish Missouri for indirectly putting his program in that position? Why wouldn't he prefer to see Missouri hoops languish in the SEC? At the very least, he's not going to say everything will be hunky-dory -- oh, go ahead, Missouri, best of luck, and see you at the Border Showdown in 2012!

No, Self is making clear that there are sacrifices to leaving your league. One of them is traditional regional rivalries. If Missouri is OK with that, then that's its prerogative. But if the Tigers prefer the SEC to the Big 12 for financial reasons, they shouldn't be shocked when their old mates decide they'd rather not speak anymore. That's just part of the bargain.

And this is why we complain about conference realignment. Since 1907, Missouri and Kansas have engaged in an uninterrupted rivalry. The matchup has been a reflection of long-standing regional animosity, the kind that inspires small towns to write letters -- in 2011, mind you -- complaining about the "offensive" use of the term "Jayhawk." I mean, it is (was) called the Border War. You don't have to be a Kansas or Missouri fan to appreciate this kind of rivalry.

Then conference realignment comes along, and Missouri decides its centuries-old rivalries with hated neighbor schools aren't worth as much as an invitation to a league with which it has no historic, geographic or competitive relationship. Why? More money.

Rivalries make college hoops great. Realignment makes rivalries obsolete. Whining about conference realignment is played out, but if you want to know why the whine-fest continues, look no further.

Oh please, it is not that cold in Missouri in March. And moving the Sprint Center five miles into Johnson county would not make KC any more viable to hold the BIG XII tournament here. Outside of metro KC, no one sees a difference between downtown KC and Johnson County anyway. Hell, outside the metro, most folks can't even tell the difference between KCMO and KCKS, with most folks thinking KC is in Kansas to begin with.

If the KC metro is now SEC territory, then you can't claim it is a KU town, which most KU fans in this thread have been touting for days now. If KC is a KU town, then that makes KC Big XII country by default.

How am I not surprised that ku fans have somehow found a way to interject ku basketball into a conference realignment thread?

LMAO

Self sounds like a jilted girlfriend and MU hasn't even left.

Sooooo Mizzou should make a wrong move for itself and sacrifice to help out.......Kansas???

LOL ok.

I'm glad Deaton and co. are finally looking out for what's best for MIZZOU...not Kansas, the Big XII, or anyone else.

If the Border War were to be lost yeah it'd suck but the excitement and intrigue over creating new rivalries in the SEC would be ok with me.

and for ****s sake, a basketball tournament or football championship game might not make a top 50 list of priorities for Mizzou when making this decision.

Yeah, that's it. So, Mizzou decides its going to look elsewhere, keeps the conference the Jayhawks are in, in limbo and may actually leave, thereby devaluing the conference as a whole, which in turn means less money per school... and that's on the Jayhawks?

Look, if you guys really believe your best interests are going to a conference you have no tradition with and less competitive power, then that's on you. We want you to stay. We want to continue the rivalry as a conference rivalry. We have no interest in seeing you go, make more money, and then contributing more money to a foreign conference city. Why you think these things can just "remain the same" is beyond me. The only way this rivalry will renew if you leave is if the Big XII dissolves in the future and we somehow end up in the B1G or PAC.

But you guys are spitting on the conference rivalry first, if you leave, you have to own that.

Why, you bring it up each time. Can it really be a surprise if you remark on it each time?

HHG is a complete dumbass, please ignore.

Say what you will, but if Mizzou offers to play KU in the non-con and KU says no, that's on KU.

If the only way KU is going to be happy is for Mizzou to bend over and get screwed, then I guess KU is going to have to be unhappy. There are two sides to a rivalry, and Mizzou is willing to show up and play, regardless of conference affiliation. If KU wants to end it, then that is on them. Don't sit there and blame Mizzou for moving to a better neighborhood.

KU seems to be saying they only want to play Mizzou on their terms and by their rules. Screw that, about time the Tigers stood up for themselves.

LOL, so you won't contribute money to a "foreign conference city" while in the Big 12, but you will if you actually end up in a good conference.

And this has NOTHING to do with jealousy or spite. Nothing at all.

Exactly. KU wants to say that MU shouldn't leave because KU/MU is a great rivalry. At the same time, they are trying to say that they only play us because the conference requires it. Which is it? Is it a game that should be played because it's a great rivalry, or is it a game that should be played just because it's on the schedule every year?

Everyone is free to act in their own self interests. Missouri knows there are far reaching consequences to their actions. This can't be a surprise.

I can live with that.