Missouri’s OTHER College Football Grudge Match

Mizzou just defended home turf in the latest edition of the “Border War” against the Kansas University Jayhawks. But did you know there is another hotly contested annual football game called the “War for the Wheel” between Southeast Missouri State and Southern Illinois University -Carbondale?

The saying goes "Familiarity breeds contempt".

Rivalry games in college football are the most fun to watch, and even better to be a part of. The aforementioned “Border War” between Mizzou and Kansas. There's the “Red River Shootout” with Oklahoma and Texas. The “Iron Bowl” between Alabama and Auburn, or the “Backyard Brawl” between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, or the “Cy-Hawk” game between Iowa and Iowa State.

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These traditions go back decades and sometimes further than that. With SEMO and SIUC the official “War for the Wheel” didn’t become “official” until 2018, but the universities that are separated by forty some miles have been knocking heads against each other since 1909 and in the early days of the rivals would travel the Mississippi river by boat to get the other's campus. Hence the ship’s wheel trophy.

Houck Stadium - Southeast Missouri State

One of the things that makes a rivalry matter is competitiveness. If one team usually wins it isn’t considered as heated a rivalry as it could be if the winning were more balanced. Over the previous eight years these two teams have each won four apiece. This year’s skirmish takes place in Cape Girardeau at Houck stadium on Saturday, September 20^th at 6p. SIUC comes in at 2-1 and ranked 11^th, while SEMO is 1-2