This week THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON COLLEGE SPORTS (especially local teams).

Sure, the college football season is wrapping up it’s 2025 season,and the 2026 Basketball season is already over a month old—

Let’s start with College Basketball…… St Louis U is off to a 14-1 start to the 25-26 season. In the latest Coaches’ Poll of Jan 5, the Billikens were ranked #32. Their 71-62 win over the weekend @ VCU should push them up a bit. They may not sound like a “big step” but take a look—behind them in the rankings this week are: #33 Indiana (12-3); #35 Missouri (12-3); #36 Kentucky (9-6)!

…The SLU-VCU game was very entertaining. The first 10 minutes looked more like a track meet than a basketball game. Both teams were flying up & down the court but their shooting “touch” seemed exhausted by the tempo. The Billikens went on a 11-0 “run” in a 2 minute span. That pushed them up to a halftime-30-22 lead. While the Bills shot a mediocre 39% from the field, it was “sizzling” compared to the VCU 21% in the 1^st half. In the 2^nd half, both teams hit a 5 minute span that neither could find the bottom of the basket. Each team also had a “run” in the 2^nd half and the Billikens held on for a vital 71-62 win over a quality A-10 game. The game was extremely fast paced, had plenty of blocked shots, 3-pointers, hard defense with potent offensive moves by each team. It was a VERY GOOD NCAA Men’s Basketball game.

…The Billikens now have 6 players averaging double figure scoring! But, please keep your eye on Dion Brown. He’s tied for the team lead in scoring 12.6 ppg; leading rebounder with 96 boards, is shooting 24 of 30 @ the Free Throw line -80%; 6 blocks; 27 assists, 12 steals!! He’s an all-around player!! And he played the first half of the VCU game not feeling well and had to leave at half with flu-like symptoms.  To my eyes, “HE’S THE MAN”.

…The NCAA Football Semi-Final game last night between Miami & Mississippi was a really tremendous game. I must admit, going into the game, I didn’t give Mississippi much of a chance since Miami had beaten Ohio State convincingly last weekend. But, Ole Miss was certainly “up to the task”. This thriller came down to the final minutes. Trailing by 3 points with a scant 18 seconds left in the game, Miami’s QB Carson Beck, dropped back to pass, was flushed out of the pocket and scrambled into the end zone for the final points of a 31-27 Hurricane win.

…Some other “takes” on this tremendous game. Ol’ Miss (#6 seed in the 6 team playoff) had their Head Coach, Lane Kiffin, resign to take a more lucrative job @ LSU. As a longtime coach, how can a coach just walk out on his team that’s playing in a national semifinal game? He couldn’t take over at LSU in 2 more weeks? He sure showed me his “values”.

…Another take, some special QB’s are winners..period. Forget their stats…they lead their team to wins. They may not have the strongest arm, the fastest speed, elusive escapability but they find ways to win. QB Carson Beck (Miami) was one of those “special” type QB’s. Beck was on a National championship team @ Georgia for 2 years as a starting QB before bolting for Miami.

…But the game wasn’t over after Miami’s score, Ol’ Miss just keep playing hard football. As all good teams, they also had a very good QB– Trinidad Chambliss. He completed two passes to get Ole Miss to the Miami 35 with 6 seconds left, offering a glimmer of hope. But his throw to a receiver in the end zone fell incomplete as time expired. It wasn’t really “over” until the final play! What a game!!!

…Mizzou has been hitting the recruiting trail hard. Apparently, they have spent much of their energy looking outside of Missouri. As one looks at the “Always in Season” top 35 Missouri HS recruits, Mizzou has signed just 3 of those top 35 players. MU signed the #5 rated SLUH OLB–Keenan Harris—OLB, SLUH 6’1′,225; #10 ranked Braylon Ellison OG, Boonville HS, 6’4′ 280; #12 ranked-Brysen Wessell—DT, Jackson, MO, 6’5” 255. It seems to me that number is below the usual quota of signees coming out of Missouri.

…Retaining good players is becoming tougher unless you have a thick wallet. Thus far, MU’s Key Retentions for 2026 (Announced): Donovan Olugbode: WR; Cayden Green: Off Tackle;

Nicholas Rodriguez: LB; Jamal Roberts: Running Back; Ahmad Hardy: Running Back

Matt Zollers: Freshman Quarterback (expected starter next year—if he doesn’t transfer out).

… The return of Hardy is a crucial signing. He was the best running back on the team. He is a powerful running back who hits the hole hard, bouncing off 1^st hits and keeps his legs moving. He’s good. Check out these stats–Rushed for 100-plus yards in 7 overall games. He was a Doak Walker Award finalist. He carried the ball 241 times for 1,560 yards (6.6 YPC) and 16 touchdowns in 2025.  Leads the nation in rushing yards per game (130.0) and 2nd in total rushing yards (1,560) … 4th nationally and 2nd in the SEC with 16 rushing touchdowns … That was a HUGE signing!!

… In fact, maybe the NCAA should establish how much NIL money a school, booster, etc can or does pay their players. Then the table would be more even if all knew & were aware  of each other’s numbers in NIL salaries (call it what it is). How about publishing as a statistic their NIL pay? Maybe, that’s just too naïve on my part?

… Apparently, the academic side of the College scholarship has become an after-thought. Keep in mind, that the usual cost for an out-of-state student hovers around the $35,000/year mark. But academics seem far in the background of the signing to a particular school for some of these highly talented athletes.  Do you really think that they attend school for 15hrs/semester with courses that prepare them for life after football? I have my doubts.

…More local news— Illinois (10-3) is ranked #10 this week college basketball poll. St Louis U (14-1) is ranked #29. Both teams have raised our hopes for a very good season with potent offenses and with some strong depth on the roster.

…Before moving on and looking at NIL & coaches situations, let’s throw some credit to Indiana for their absolutely terrific 2025 football season. The Hoosiers are led by 2nd-year head coach Curt Cignetti. Always known for their basketball, especially during the Bobby Knight days, Indiana was very good (2024) last year as they posted an 11-2 record but fell to Notre Dame 27-17 in a FBS bowl. This year Coach Cignetti pushed the bar even higher. They beat a good Oregon team in a Big 10…oops…it’s Big 19 game 30-20. IU edged Ohio State 13-10 in the championship game. Last week in the NCAA Quarterfinal, they smashed Alabama 38-3!! So, this weekend, they’ll tangle with Oregon again. This time in the NCAA semifinal game to the National Championship. Seems strange to me to have two Big-10..oops, Big 19 teams, whatever it is, from the same conference playing in the national semifinal.

…In off-the-field news, Mizzou just signed a new offensive coordinator -Chip Lindsey. Lindsey’s salary at MU starts at $1.1 million annually for 2026 and 2027, with a significant jump to $1.6 million in 2028.  He must be good, actually very good, since he’s guaranteed $3.8 million over 3 years on his new contract. It also includes incentives and a potential $200k retention bonus, according to reports from late Dec 2025. It’s strange, I thought Coach Drinkwitz was calling the plays this year? Soo…now we have a new offensive coordinator, I guess Coach Drink didn’t like calling plays.

…in 2025-26 there were 36 traditional bowl games plus the   games of the expanded 8-team College Football Playoff (CFP), making for 41 total postseason games in the NCAA. Isn’t that too many? Are there really 82 “bowl teams”?  How about ½ that many—20 bowl games total? The only way these bowl games “make it” financially is through television.

…You can bet on the NCAA Football Championship tournament to be going to 8 teams in the  near future. Then, a few years later to a 16 team tournament. Will that make some other bowl games disappear?….probably… but I do think that some of the Bowl games will be integrated into the NCAA Tourney. In time, some of those other bowl  games names will disappear.

….Well…that wraps up our look @ College sports. Thanks for your time & read!  Please leave any of your thoughts on my Facebook page (Bob Ryan) or send to me & I’ll post it. Please spread the word of the REWIND. Bob