Lance Leipold backs claims Kansas was set to face Missouri in Liberty Bowl

Last year’s Liberty Bowl featured Kansas vs. Arkansas as the two teams engaged in a high-scoring thriller. But as the matchups were being decided, The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported Missouri refused to play the Jayhawks in the game — a report the program denied.

It’s safe to say Lance Leipold hasn’t forgotten that conversation.

Leipold appeared on Inside Wisconsin with John Anderson and Trevor Thomas this week and brought up that Liberty Bowl matchup. Kansas and Mizzou aren’t preparing to to play a “Border War” game in 2025, but Leipold noted it could’ve happened last year.

“2025,” Leipold said of when they’d play again. “What’s the date? I think it’s, like, first or second week. … It was supposed to be the Liberty Bowl last year, but that’s another conversation.”

Mizzou and Kansas haven’t played each other since 2011 — a 24-10 Tigers victory. They could’ve squared off again 11 years later, according to McMurphy.

McMurphy later double down on his reporting about the situation. He 610 Sports Radio he heard about Missouri’s reluctance to play Kansas from the game’s executive director.

“(Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart) also told me multiple bowl officials told him Missouri did not want to play Kansas,” McMurphy said in December. “What I reported originally was that Missouri did not want to play Kansas in a bowl game. I did not say they did not want to play in the Liberty Bowl. I said the Liberty Bowl was an opportunity for the schools to play because of the bowl tie-in.

“They could have also played in the Texas Bowl. They could have also played in the Sugar Bowl. What I reported was Missouri officials were telling bowl officials and people within the SEC, who then relayed that information to the bowl officials, ‘We do not want to play Kansas in a bowl game.’ And so that’s what I reported.”

Missouri ended up playing Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl instead, falling to the Demon Deacons by a score of 27-17. Kansas did play in the Liberty Bowl and lost to Arkansas in a thrilling 55-53 triple-overtime game.

Recently, McMurphy added fuel to the fire on social media. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz made a joke about the SEC’s 2024 schedule reveal and who the Tigers would play, and McMurphy responded with a tweet to jog the coach’s memory about the situation with Kansas and the Liberty Bowl.

“Kansas?” McMurphy replied to Drinkwitz.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.