Is Missouri considered a southern state? Depends who you ask.
And even then, no one can really give you a straight answer. Missouri is a wishy-washy border state.
An official U.S. census map shows that Missouri is in the Midwest. No argument there. So yeah, Missouri is technically in the Midwest, but does Missouri really act Midwestern?
There are so many Southern ideals in Missouri that you wouldn't find in the heart of the Midwest. The obvious big reason that Mizzou would be considered southern is that Mizzou is in the S-E-freaking-C. Although we may not be in the South, Saturday game days at the Zou sure do have a Southern flare to them that doesn't exist at Big 10 or Big 12 schools. In the South, tailgating starts at 10 a.m. for a 3 p.m. game. Southern football is bigger and brighter, with fireworks after every score and an excessive "M-I-Z" from the announcers.
Southern football is also a formal occasion – people dress nice for football games. How could I forget those shirts every girl wears? The shirt that says on the back "Refined Southern Football" with little bows of every school in the SEC. That is Southern. That is not something you see up in Iowa or Wisconsin.
We may not drink a lot of "sweet tea" or say "bless your heart" every five seconds, but we still hold the door open for everyone and smile to strangers when they pass us on the street. We wear cowboy boots. We present ourselves in the highest manner (sometimes, some of us not on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings). With the help of joining the SEC, Missouri has transformed into a classy, Southern state. Missouri is the North of the South.
Missouri is a Midwestern state with a little hint of Southern flare. But even saying that, a native Missourian from St. Louis will probably come up to me wanting to rip my head off and scream in my face, "MISSOURI ISN'T SOUTHERN." Your time here in Missouri is what you make of it, and even if everyone from Missouri wants to punch me, this wanna-be southern belle girl from Iowa will always believe in the Southern ideals that I see everyday in the not-so-south state of Missouri.
