Five Braggin' Rights memories for the Illini

If the Big Ten decides to expand to 12 teams within the next few years, then Missouri seems to be one of the candidates that make the most sense.

One negative to Mizzou's candidacy? Illinois and Missouri would lose one of the nation's finest regular-season college basketball spectacles.

For the 27th consecutive December, the Illini and the Tigers meet in St. Louis for Braggin' Rights before a sellout crowd.

Illinois guns for its 10th straight win in the series, though it hasn't been nearly as lopsided as that streak might suggest.

Here are five of the decade's best moments - not including Illinois' 32-point win in 2005 that ended with a Mizzou fan dumping popcorn on soon-to-be-fired coach Quin Snyder as he left the floor.

Dec. 22, 2001: With U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft seated with the Missouri fandom, a drunk Mizzou rooter tackles Chief Illiniwek shortly after he begins his halftime dance. Illini male cheerleaders come to the Chief's rescue and he finishes his routine unscathed.

In a similar vein, Missouri power forward Travon Bryant uses a vicious pick to knock Illini point guard Frank Williams out of the game with 9:21 left.

Williams returns a minute later with Illinois up by just 2. He reels off 11 of his team's final 25 points to guide the No. 9 Illini to a 72-61 win over the No. 8 Tigers.

Williams finishes the game with a sprained left wrist, bruised right hand and bruised right thigh.

"I'll be fine," Williams said. "It's just something that made me pause, like a video game. I'm getting ready to push the 'start' button again."

Dec. 23, 2003: Bruce Weber's first Braggin' Rights experience figures to go badly.

Missouri enters the night as the No. 11 team nationally while the No. 21 Illini don't have Deron Williams due to a broken jaw.

Dee Brown takes over the point and leads the Illini to a 21-point lead in the first half. Mizzou rallies to forge the game's first tie with 1:30 left, but Brown hits 2 free throws with 19.7 seconds left to clinch Illinois' 71-70 win. He finishes with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Dec. 22, 2004: Top-ranked Illinois enters the game against unranked Mizzou with a 10-0 record and 10 double-digit victories.

The Illini build a 16-point second-half lead, but the Tigers get as close as 4 before Illinois hits 11 of 12 free throws late to save a 70-64 victory.

"It's the first time in a long time we can watch a film and say, 'Hey,' " Weber said. "Usually it's 16-2 and there's nothing to watch because we're winning so easily. So this will be a good teaching tape. It's good to win a game and have a chance to teach."

Dec. 19, 2006: For the first time in nine Border Wars, neither Illinois nor Missouri enters the game as a Top 25 team.

New Mizzou coach Mike Anderson interjects his "40 Minutes of Heck" full-court defense into the rivalry, but the Illini never turn it over in the backcourt until their final possession.

Brian Randle loses the ball with seven seconds left, but Mizzou's Stefhon Hannah loses a behind-the-back as he tries to shake free for a 3-pointer and Illinois escapes 73-70.

Illini point guard Chester Frazier plays all but 15 seconds of the game and delivers 6 assists versus 3 turnovers against Mizzou's press.

Dec. 22, 2007: Illinois suffers unexpected home losses to Miami (Ohio) and Tennessee State late in this month but still manages to hold off Missouri.

Senior center Shaun Pruitt provides the winning basket with 35 seconds left. He misses two shots but finally gets the third one to go for a 59-58 squeaker.

Mizzou gets the last chance, but Keon Lawrence dribbles off his foot out of bounds as the horn sounds.