Pinkel aware of MU's rivalry with Kansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Gary Pinkel heard about it from about hundreds of alumni within two weeks of his being hired at Missouri: the Tigers' rivalry with Kansas runs deep.

"You can throw out all the records and everything else and understand that it'll be a war," Pinkel said as the Tigers prepared for their game Saturday at Kansas. "That's what state rivalries are all about."

No need to tell the Tigers about it, including those who have endured a 21-0 loss to the Jayhawks in 1999, then a 38-17 setback to the Jayhawks last season -- on Missouri's homecoming.

"Of course, we have a bad taste in our mouths from the past two years," Tigers senior linebacker Jamonte Robinson said. "This is our main rival, and they've really beaten us the last two seasons without much doubt. It's time to show them that things have changed."

Missouri is 3-7 in the Tigers' past 10 meetings with the Jayhawks, with all the losses -- aside from a 15-7 defeat in 1997 -- by at least 17 points. The worst: the 53-29 setback at Kansas in 1991, when Bob Stull coached the Tigers.

The Tigers last won in Lawrence in 1990, taking a 31-21 victory.

"There's a lot of history in this game, but the most recent of it hasn't been in our favor," Missouri linebacker Sean Doyle said. "We really want to change that, especially coming in with a fresh coach and some great new players. We want to start their years off in the right way."

Although Pinkel said that his team's preparation doesn't change because of the team the Tigers are playing that week, he said there's a definite motivation that comes with playing Kansas. He hopes his players use that motivation.

"I understand that this is a big game, so it should take our players focus-wise to a different level," Pinkel said. "You never want to lose two games in a row, and this would be a very bad time to do it."

The Missouri-Kansas series is tied at 50-50-9.