Braggin' Rights Game

Status
Not open for further replies.
#1      

dmo1986

Tampa, FL
is there any information on tickets for the Bragging Rights Game? Sorry if it has been posted.
 
#2      
It looks like they still aren't on sale ... really don't understand the motive to not have them on sale a little over a month before the game, lol. This is the best I can give you:

1. Here is the actual/official link for tickets, which I highly recommend using early on before that many tickets have sold. In the 2021-22 game, attendance was a bit more sparse than usual, and my wife and I payed $55 per ticket to get some REALLY good seats.

2. While I do not know the exact split of sections in the middle, I am 99.9% sure that every single year, Illinois has the right side of the lower map, and Mizzou has the left side. I feel like that "Theater Boxes" section is always on the Mizzou side. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

enterprise-center-seating-chart-for-basketball.jpg


3. I cannot attend this year, but I SO highly recommend attending for any Illini fan who's never been. While I am not from anywhere near St. Louis, I simply have to chuckle when Illini fans "don't get too worked up about the Missouri rivalry" or whatever. This is not like Quad Cities fans hating Iowa more or fans from Rockford having more of a distaste for Wisconsin ... there is just simply no atmosphere and environment like Braggin' Rights, and I refuse to believe that anyone who's ever attended this event still "didn't get it." 20,000+ fans split down the middle, loud cheers literally every play since there are equal fans of both teams, a clear Christmas/holiday buzz throughout the arena and (for better or for worse) one of the most boozed up crowds I have ever been a part of ... it's truly unique.
 
Last edited:
#3      
It looks like they still aren't on sale ... really don't understand the motive to not have them on sale a little over a month before the game, lol. This is the best I can give you:

1. Here is the actual/official link for tickets, which I highly recommend using early on before that many tickets have sold. In the 2021-22 game, attendance was a bit more sparse than usual, and my wife and I payed $55 per ticket to get some REALLY good seats.

2. While I do not know the exact split of sections in the middle, I am 99.9% sure that every single year, Illinois has the right side of the lower map, and Mizzou has the left side. I feel like that "Theater Boxes" section is always on the Mizzou side. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

enterprise-center-seating-chart-for-basketball.jpg


3. I cannot attend this year, but I SO highly recommend attending for any Illini fan who's never been. While I am not from anywhere near St. Louis, I simply have to chuckle when Illini fans "don't get too worked up about the Missouri rivalry" or whatever. This is not like Quad Cities fans hating Iowa more or fans from Rockford having more of a distaste for Wisconsin ... there is just simply no atmosphere and environment like Braggin' Rights, and I refuse to believe that anyone who's ever attended this event still "didn't get it." 20,000+ fans split down the middle, loud cheers literally every play since there are equal fans of both teams, a clear Christmas/holiday buzz throughout the arena and (for better or for worse) one of the most boozed up crowds I have ever been a part of ... it's truly unique.
Thank you for the response. I just moved back to the area, and have been multiple times. It’s always a blast! And yea, I’ve stood in the theater box one game, it was on the Mizzou side, usually is.
 
#4      
Still remember the 89 game where we knew we had something special Checkerdome. Nick, Kenny, Steve, Kendall, Lowell, Larry pressed full court entire game to rally from 18 points down. Students were home from both schools. Both bands were there. Crowd was 50/50 Ill Missouri. One of best Illini games I very saw.


 
#6      
It looks like they still aren't on sale ... really don't understand the motive to not have them on sale a little over a month before the game, lol. This is the best I can give you:

1. Here is the actual/official link for tickets, which I highly recommend using early on before that many tickets have sold. In the 2021-22 game, attendance was a bit more sparse than usual, and my wife and I payed $55 per ticket to get some REALLY good seats.

2. While I do not know the exact split of sections in the middle, I am 99.9% sure that every single year, Illinois has the right side of the lower map, and Mizzou has the left side. I feel like that "Theater Boxes" section is always on the Mizzou side. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

enterprise-center-seating-chart-for-basketball.jpg


3. I cannot attend this year, but I SO highly recommend attending for any Illini fan who's never been. While I am not from anywhere near St. Louis, I simply have to chuckle when Illini fans "don't get too worked up about the Missouri rivalry" or whatever. This is not like Quad Cities fans hating Iowa more or fans from Rockford having more of a distaste for Wisconsin ... there is just simply no atmosphere and environment like Braggin' Rights, and I refuse to believe that anyone who's ever attended this event still "didn't get it." 20,000+ fans split down the middle, loud cheers literally every play since there are equal fans of both teams, a clear Christmas/holiday buzz throughout the arena and (for better or for worse) one of the most boozed up crowds I have ever been a part of ... it's truly unique.
I think the Illinois side is on the left of your map. I have missed on two of these games since 1989. One was because of the storm a couple years ago and the one that during Covid. I ordered my tickets quite awhile ago.
 
#7      
I think the Illinois side is on the left of your map. I have missed on two of these games since 1989. One was because of the storm a couple years ago and the one that during Covid. I ordered my tickets quite awhile ago.
I think you are right, thanks! I had assumed the team benches were on the top of the court, and I clearly did not look at it correctly!!

I believe the rule of thumb I messed up is that if you are facing the team benches, the Illini are always on the right.
 
#10      
#11      
Put in my ticket request today - will be our first time going!
You're going to have a blast! Last year was my first time attending, and I don't think I'll ever miss another one as long as I live in the area. Maggie O'Brien's is an Irish sports bar by Union Station, it was a very festive pregame spot with both Illini and Mizzou fans, and they run a free shuttle to the arena.
 
#12      
Just to give another positive testimony to Braggin' Rights, we have gone two years and only missed last year because Little Fighter was born the day before Braggin' Rights so we watched that one from a hospital room. :cool: Each year we went had its own twist, with some pros and cons:

2021-22: Illinois 88, Missouri 63. Attendance of 14,953 (68% capacity).
- It was our first time, and that cannot be topped in many ways! Even with a smaller crowd and some lingering COVID restrictions, it was still such a fun atmosphere.
- It was also awesome to see the Illini throttle Mizzou.
- On the other hand, we beat a Mizzou team that would finish 12-21 during their football bowl game, so it detracted from the atmosphere a bit ... and it was honestly a bit sad, lol.
- Illini side of the crowd was about 90% full (so 9,900), and that would leave about 5,053 on the Mizzou side (45% full). On the Mizzou side, I bet at least 15% were in orange ... so we had a crowd advantage that should embarrass Missouri.

2022-23: Missouri 93, #16 Illinois 71. Attendance of 18,452 (84% capacity).
- My sister got to meet us for this one, and she was super pumped! Much bigger crowd, and (at least for the beginning of the game) it was a huge step up in atmosphere from what was already a good one!
- In stark contrast to the year before, Mizzou absolutely embarrassed the Illini ... this was the first MAJOR red flag that something was wrong with this team, and it was brutal to watch. :(
- The weather was INTENSE for this one, haha. It was in the single digits outside, and in typical lower Midwest/Upper South fashion, the folks there are totally inept at dealing with even the slightest snow so like nothing was plowed. :ROFLMAO: We actually bought awesome seats from an Illini fan on Stub Hub who usually goes every single year but couldn't make it due to the weather between Springfield and STL.
- I would say both sides looked about 80-90% full (equally spread out), which matches the overall attendance of 84% capacity. It was refreshing to actually see a big Mizzou crowd, as there is TRULY nothing as cool as a college basketball game where at least half of the arena is cheering loudly every single play. It is like an NCAA Tournament atmosphere ... but honestly better, from a crowd perspective.

TL;DR

Long story short - we saw an impressive Illini win in front of a subpar crowd, and we saw an embarrassing Illini loss in front of an electric atmosphere. I am TRULY jealous of all of the Illini fans that have got to see exciting Illini wins in front of packed crowds in years past!
 
#13      
I ordered tickets through the Illini website in October. It looks like it was only a deposit to reserve a ticket? Any idea when we find out if/where we got tickets?
 
#15      
It looks like they still aren't on sale ... really don't understand the motive to not have them on sale a little over a month before the game, lol. This is the best I can give you:

1. Here is the actual/official link for tickets, which I highly recommend using early on before that many tickets have sold. In the 2021-22 game, attendance was a bit more sparse than usual, and my wife and I payed $55 per ticket to get some REALLY good seats.

2. While I do not know the exact split of sections in the middle, I am 99.9% sure that every single year, Illinois has the right side of the lower map, and Mizzou has the left side. I feel like that "Theater Boxes" section is always on the Mizzou side. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

enterprise-center-seating-chart-for-basketball.jpg


3. I cannot attend this year, but I SO highly recommend attending for any Illini fan who's never been. While I am not from anywhere near St. Louis, I simply have to chuckle when Illini fans "don't get too worked up about the Missouri rivalry" or whatever. This is not like Quad Cities fans hating Iowa more or fans from Rockford having more of a distaste for Wisconsin ... there is just simply no atmosphere and environment like Braggin' Rights, and I refuse to believe that anyone who's ever attended this event still "didn't get it." 20,000+ fans split down the middle, loud cheers literally every play since there are equal fans of both teams, a clear Christmas/holiday buzz throughout the arena and (for better or for worse) one of the most boozed up crowds I have ever been a part of ... it's truly unique.
 
#16      
Thanks for posting this. I’m going with my sil who is a Mizzou fan. Do you know where the designated sections are? Thanks.
 
#18      
Thanks for posting this. I’m going with my sil who is a Mizzou fan. Do you know where the designated sections are? Thanks.
Look at a few posts ^^^ above that show the seating chart and discuss where the Illini section is…
 
#23      
I would be very surprised if Mizzou is not ranked heading into Braggin' Rights, and I hope they (and our Illini...) are! Their only loss is on the road to Memphis, they have won 8 straight to earn an 8-1 record and they just took down #1 Kansas. Their only two games before they play us are LIU and Jacksonville State at home. We really need to beat one of Wisconsin or Tennessee at home for many reasons, but I would really like both teams to be ranked for this matchup. Big-time exposure is great for our program, and this game has SUCH a unique and cool setup that it is a shame when one team is too down and the atmosphere (while always at least very good) suffers.

For reference, these are the years both teams have been ranked at the same time since the rivalry moved to St. Louis:

2012-13: #12 Missouri 82, #12 Illinois 73
2011-12: #10 Missouri 78, #25 Illinois 74
2010-11: #9 Missouri 75, #21 Illinois 64
2003-04: #21 Illinois 71, #11 Missouri 70
2002-03: #12 Illinois 85, #11 Missouri 70
2001-02: #9 Illinois 72, #8 Missouri 61
1995-96: #14 Illinois 96, #15 Missouri 85 (OT)
1989-90: #5 Illinois 101, #4 Missouri 93
1988-89: #6 Illinois 87, #10 Missouri 84

Of the 42 meetings since they moved it to St. Louis and branded it as Braggin' Rights, it looks like at least one team has been ranked an astonishing 29 teams (i.e., 69% of the time!). And that even includes a dark stretch from 2014-15 to 2019-20 where neither team was ranked in a single game! This year will be an absolute battle, IMO, and we need our new crop of guys to quickly understand how intense this game is. I recall a quote from Dee Brown regarding Braggin' Rights saying, "I tell the freshmen, 'Man, you guys don't understand what you're walkin' into. It's a war.'" Even though he won't be on the court, I hope Ty can accurately convey that to these guys...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back