Week 2 of the 2026 college football season is set to feature several big-time matchups, and that includes the newest chapter in one of college football’s most intense and underrated rivalries between the Missouri Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks.
Dubbed “The Border War,” these former longtime Big 12 rivals renewed their historic hatred for one another in 2025 after a 14-year hiatus, when the Tigers handed the Jayhawks a 42-31 loss in Columbia.
Now No. 23 Missouri will be hitting the road for round 2 against Kansas, and ESPN just released its FPI prediction for how this early-season get-together between bitter rivals will shake out.
For those who don’t know, the FPI (Football Power Index) is ESPN’s comprehensive analytical model used to predict who has the edge in any given matchup from week to week.
According to the model, the Tigers are a sizable road favorite, currently holding a 63.2% chance to come out on top over the Jayhawks, who have only a 36.8% chance to secure the victory.
If this prediction plays out, it will mark Mizzou’s 5th straight win in the series and their 7th win in the past 8 matchups, going all the way back to the 2006 season.
