is any lower than all but Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Mizzou was dreadful for all of the 80s and most of the 90s, but we were one of the top programs in the country in the 40s and 60s and in the 70s were a program that knocked off some big-time programs (winning @ND and @Nebraska in '78, giving '76 USC their only loss (46-25 @USC), giving '75 Alabama their only loss (in Birmingham), it's just that we'd lose to 5-win teams after beating top-10 teams.
Missouri is in the midst of a long rebuilding process, but it's foolish to think that they aren't in better shape than Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue, at least (and, we would have beaten Michigan the last few years). As far as basketball goes, don't confuse the lack of national championships/final fours with being a poor program. Are we a legendary program? No, but throughout the 80s and 90s we had regular high rankings and won quite a few Big 8 titles (against the likes of Kansas and Oklahoma).
On January 1, 1979, the all-time series was 32-27-3. It is, historically, a heated, well played rivalry. It's just that Mizzou sucked for 25 years while Nebraska became a top-5 program for much of that time. Nebraska has rivals in the Big 8, the have teams they hate, they DEFINITELY have teams that hate them.
It's just that they don't claim a rival because they believe they're above every team other than Oklahoma.... who doesn't hate them nearly as much as they hate Texas.
As a Missouri alum, I would be fine with a move to the B10 for several reasons, but athletically, I'd much rather see a situation where the old Big 8 stays together and we wrest control of the conference away from UT and A&M. However, I am one of those who believe that athletics is not the primary reason for a university to exist, and if something is obviously better for your school's academics, you simply have to do it.
For the record, Mizzou has been an AAU member since 1908.
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