Missouri is traveling to Toledo, Ohio, this weekend to complete a home-and-home with the Rockets.

It’s an unusual arrangement for SEC and MAC schools. It would not have happened if Tigers coach Gary Pinkel hadn’t spent the first 10 years of his career as a head coach at the school.

Toledo approached him a few years back about setting up the series, and Pinkel obliged. He joked earlier this week that he figured he’d get fired prior to the return trip to the Glass Bowl.

Pinkel was 73-37-3 in his 10 seasons coaching the Rockets. He holds the school record for career wins as a head coach at both universities, a distinction only matched in FBS by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. That was enough to get him inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

“It’s a big part of my life and a big part of my career,” Pinkel said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’ll always be a Toledo Rocket — not this weekend.”

The Post-Dispatch story included an anecdote recalling then-Kansas athletic director Al Bohl hugging Pinkel and Missouri’s staff outside the visitor’s locker room. Bohl was athletic director at Toledo when Pinkel coached the Rockets.

More from the terrific Post-Dispatch story:

In 1995, the Rockets went 11-0-1. They won the MAC championship. They played in the school’s first bowl game since 1984. Pinkel had built a program, fashioned after James’ philosophies and transplanted it three time zones to the east.

Over the next five seasons, Toledo finished 42-18, won two division titles, defeated Purdue in 1997 and opened 2000 with a 24-6 takedown of Penn State. The 2000 team finished 10-1. Pinkel’s youngest of three children was about to graduate high school in Toledo. That meant it was time to start considering other job offers. Arizona State and Maryland targeted Pinkel. Missouri, too.

He took over as Mizzou’s coach on Nov. 30, 2000 and brought all his coaches with him, though defensive coordinator Tom Amstutz returned to Toledo two weeks later to become the Rockets’ next head coach. With Pinkel’s players, Amstutz won the MAC championship his first two years on the job.

Quarterback Maty Mauk, Mr. Ohio Football and a Parade All-American in 2011, also is making a homecoming of sorts.

“It’s always going to be my home,” Mauk said, according to the Kansas City Star. “There’s no place else I’m going to call home. Whenever I get free time, they know I’m going to be back. But right now it’s a business trip, and I’ve got to go play.”

The paper reported that Mauk expects “several hundred” friends to make the 75-mile drive to watch him play. That includes 18-year-old Drey Dearing, a life-long friend with muscular dystrophy. The two served as ball boys together for the Kenton High School Wildcats, coached by Mauk’s father and quarterbacked by his brother, the Columbia Missourian reported.

Mauk said he also expects a strong opposition. He torched a lot of opposing teams in high school, and many of those players and families may be in the stadium Saturday rooting for Toledo.

“He’d be a good poker player,” Pinkel said, according to The Star. “Maty’s really not like that. He’s pretty even-keeled all the time. Whether he throws a touchdown pass or has a bad play, when he comes off the field, he doesn’t look a whole lot different.”

Rockets beat writer Nicholas Piotrowicz of the Toledo Blade (who seemingly talked to every Missouri reporter this week) told the Kansas City Star that Toledo isn’t making a big deal out of Pinkel’s return, either.

“It’s a nice storyline, but I think the game itself is the bigger cause for excitement. Toledo fans look fondly on Pinkel’s years as coach, to be sure, but ranked SEC teams just don’t come around here very often. The theme of this week has been opportunity. With a national stage and a good opponent, I think most Toledo fans think this is a big deal even if one doesn’t consider Pinkel’s ties.”