Looking through last night's results and was pretty surprised to see where some past Blue Bloods or Tourney-regulars have fallen. This is all cyclical and I'm sure most of these programs will rise back up at some point, but interesting, for now.

Louisville - 2-14 - started the year on a 9 game losing streak with losses to Bellarmine (who?), Wright St, App St and Lipscomb.

Notre Dame - 9-8 - 1-5 in ACC play with a loss at home to St. Bonaventure.

Villanova - 8-9 - with a 12-point loss at home to Portland.

Georgetown - 5-13 - 0-7 in Big East play with home losses to LMU and American.

Kentucky - 10-6 - 1-3 in SEC play, including a drubbing at the hands of Mizzou and a home loss to a now-.500 USCe squad. Fans have literally brought signs to Rupp telling Cal to leave for Texas. ***Insert, "you hate to see it, but more than that, you love to see it, gif***

Florida - 9-7 - home losses to FAU and a down OU squad.

Honorable mentions to UNC (11-6, 0-4 away), Syracuse (10-6), OU (10-6), Baylor (10-5, 0-3 in B12 play), WVU (10-5, 0-3 in B12 play), Butler (10-8), Creighton (9-7), Indiana (10-5, 1-3 in B1G play) and Vanderbilt (8-8).

Login to view embedded media
He’s been granted a 9th year of eligibility. Yes you read that correctly. No I don’t really see us pursuing him

We'll talk hoops, preview A&M, etc

As we continue to send out positive vibes for Peyton (who is still in critical condition) I reflected back to 2020 where I met Peyton at his home in Springdale to do an interview for our upcoming SEC football documentary. He was an extremely kind and welcoming person who was very candid about his time at Arky and specifically that game against Mizzou. Thought some of you might enjoy.

Login to view embedded media

Obviously there's still another Transfer Portal window that will be opening in May, but here's what's remaining (no clue if there are ties to Mizzou or not):

Nick Jackson (UVA) - SR - LB

Deyon "Smoke" Bouie (aTm) - FR - CB (Offered by Mizzou out of HS)
Login to view embedded media
Clayton Smith (OU) - RSFR - LB
Login to view embedded media
J. Michael Sturdivant (CAL) - RSFR - WR

Oluwaseyi Omotosho (WYO) - FR - DE

Alfonzo Graham (Morgan St) - SR - RB

Hank Bachmeier (BSU) - SR - QB

Titus Swen (WYO) - JR - RB

Dae Dae Hunter (LIB) - SO - RB

Chance Nolan (OR St) - JR - QB

Larry McCammon (FAU) - JR - RB

Arik Gilbert (UGA) - SO - TE

Blake Smith (aTm) - SO - TE
Login to view embedded media
Joe Huber (CIN) - SO - OT
Login to view embedded media
Kiyaunta Goodwin (UK) - FR - OT
Login to view embedded media
Dustyn Hall (USF) - RSSO - OT
Login to view embedded media
Zack Zambrano (Princeton) - SR - C
Login to view embedded media
Logan Parr (Texas) - SO - OL
Login to view embedded media
Donell Harris (aTm) - RSSO - WDE
Login to view embedded media
Marcus Burris (aTm) - RSFR - SDE / DT
Login to view embedded media
Richard Thomas (IU) - FR - DE
Login to view embedded media
Kevonte Henry (OU) - FR - WDE
Login to view embedded media
Shambre Jackson (FSU) - RSFR - SDE

Mario Eugenio (CIN) - FR - DL

Raneiria "Ra Ra" Dillworth (UNC) - FR - OLB

Julien Simon (USC) - RSFR - OLB

Jakailin Johnson (tOSU) - RSFR - CB (From DeSmet in STL)

Jaxen Turner (AZ) - JR - S

Benjamin Perry (CIN) - RSFR - S

More on 2024 DT Dillan Johnson, who is the younger brother of recent Eastern Michigan OL transfer commit Marcellus Johnson

not really sure where else he would have gone, but FWIW

Login to view embedded media

If last night proved anything, it’s that we need as many SEC teams in the playoff as possible. The best 4 teams in the nation all resided in the SEC this year. It’s only fair they all get a shot at the Natty.

Zero U shit the bed in Larryville.
It was 10:00, the show we were watching ended, and I decided to channel surf a couple minutes before shutting it down.
Gee, the Sooners immediately went up 10. I turned to my knowing wife and said, “We’ve seen this movie before dozens of times, beaker fans need not worry.”
Porter Moser’s boys lost by 4. It was foreordained.

More on the WR signee out of Dickinson (Tex.)

So we all heard the story about the Indiana basketball player who gets limited minutes paying his sister student loan debt. So I thought I would share a Mizzou story. Most of us think NIL is about the kid driving the new car with lots of cash. That's not what most of the NIL is about. So by NCAA rules players get three days off for Christmas. We all saw the Browns joining a local family for Christmas. Trey Gomillion did not have enough money to make it home to Georgia for Christmas but a last second NIL deal allowed him to make it home to surprise his mom and family for three days at Christmas. Thank you NIL. Remember most of these kids don't come from money. There are 550 student athletes at Mizzou. Only 55-60 receive NIL money . I think people have a misconceived perception of the amount of money being thrown around

Could we alternate Mizzou football, basketball and other games in KC one year and StL the next? SEC basketball tourney to KC (no)? Perhaps more frequent football and basketball games besides CBE every four years (yes)? There appears to be good conversations between KC Sports Commission and Mizzou.

Kathy Nelson, President and CEO, and Dave Borchardt, VP-Corporate & Community Relations, from the Commission spoke with the Tiger Club yesterday.

The Tiger Club meets each Tuesday during the school year at the Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill. Our Jan. 17 guest will be JJ Picollo, Royals Executive VP Baseball Operations/General Manager.

Login to view embedded media

Talked to these guys in the airport today on their way to A&M. Said the team is impressed with the fan support and we’re pumped that we sold out for Vandy.

Told them the sellouts would keep coming with the W’s.

Just passing along that the team is digging the atmosphere.

Mizzou getting 4.5 tonight. Seems....generous (for us)

I was curious so looked up some numbers. We all know the elite teams largely have the best players. I went through the four classes that mostly compose the teams that won a NY6 bowl game or appeared in the playoff to see how many four and five stars they had signed over that time frame. Then took a look at the current incoming class and the start of the 2024 class to see if those teams were trending to have an increase or decrease in talent



Obviously Tulane and TCU are the outliers here. What's the difference? They don't play in the Big Ten or the SEC. You can go through a 12/13 game schedule and win in those leagues at an elite level without elite talent, largely because the teams you're playing also do not have elite talent. The "least talented" SEC or Big Ten team to win one of those games was Tennessee, which had signed 38 four and five star players over those years. That's an average of nine per class. They signed 12 in this class. Which means the Vols talent level is increasing. Ohio State, Bama and UGA are at their own level. They recruit in a world very few others can recruit in. But other than that, the winning teams had 38 to 51 four or five stars sign over a four year period, an average of 9.5 to 12.75 per class. Obviously this doesn't include transfers and also not all of these players were on the roster. Not much I can do about that. It's a guideline, not a perfect system.

The problem then becomes what if you are one of those other teams in the Big Ten or the SEC? You're competing against those teams to get to that level. So I looked at Missouri and the four SEC teams I believe it is most closely competing with to get to that level (you could easily throw Ole Miss and Mississippi State in here, but I didn't want to go through the numbers for every single school and Missouri doesn't play either one of those teams very often right now.



Missouri is definitely increasing the talent. The first two classes in 19-22 included just one four-star. So next year's four-year rolling count will be at 19, which puts them very close to what Arkansas and South Carolina have been. So that's a good trend line for sure. You're getting closer to Kentucky, but not at that level yet in terms of pure talent.

Obviously, not every team that signs four and five stars is great (looking at you Florida) and not every team that doesn't sucks. But it's a pretty decent guideline FOR TEAMS WHO ARE IN THE SEC OR THE BIG TEN. You can compete and maybe even win those other leagues without elite recruiting because most of those other leagues aren't elite recruiters and if they are, there's probably only one or two so you just have to be better than that team on one day, not over the course of an entire season (TCU, Tulane).

Nothing here should come as a big surprise. I wasn't looking to find any relevatory information. I just wanted to put some numbers to it. There are probably some other teams like LSU, USC, Notre Dame, Clemson and maybe Florida State and Texas A&M who are starting to get into the second tier that put them on a talent level with the Michigan/Penn State/Florida level. Nobody's probably catching UGA, Bama and Georgia because they play their own game. Missouri's biggest problem, is that two of those teams are in their conference and you play one of them every year and if you beat that one, you probably have to play the other one.

Again, I don't think I'm breaking new ground here. Just thought it would be interesting to put some numbers to it. The reason there's no parity in college football is because you've got three teams basically operating at a whole different level. They're getting four first-round draft picks for every one that Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas or Kentucky get. They're getting 50% more first round draft picks than even Florida is getting. As long as the high level talent is still almost exclusively going to a handful of schools it's impossible to see how the ceiling for everybody else is much more than get to a NY6 game and maybe win it. Which would be great, don't get me wrong. That's the goal for probably 95% of teams in America, if not more.

Oh what could have been...

Login to view embedded media

We're kicking around some possibilities for a new addition. Will keep you posted.

South Carolina 21
Kentucky 8

7:30 in

Fans booing at Rupp

Maybe they aren’t that bad, I actually was impressed by them on Saturday. They are big and have some guys that are matchup problems.