But on Thursday afternoon, all of the talk in St. Louis was surrounding the discussion on why the Missouri Tigers and SLU do not hook up annually on the hardwood.
It started in the morning, when Mizzou athletic director Mike Alden joined Frank Cusamano on "The Press Box" on CBS Sports 920 to discuss a number of things, but a match-up with SLU, or why there isn't one on the docket anytime soon, did come up.
Alden explained, and I am paraphrasing, that playing SLU would not help the Mizzou brand. (You can listen to the entire segment and exchange between Cusamano and Alden here).The conversation continued throughout the day, with heated debate from both sides.
SLU fans want the game for obvious reasons.
Mizzou fans do not want the game, claiming they have nothing to gain by playing a school like SLU.
That's fodder.
Wouldn't a game and a rivalry with a respected school located in the state's most populous metro area generate Mike Alden's athletic department a lot more money then an exhibition with flipping Hawaii at the Sprint Center?
Mizzou should sign up to play SLU immediately because it will make them a ton of money. No matter where the game would be, whether its Columbia, St. Louis or they meet halfway in Warrenton, it almost certainly would be a sell-out.
It would draw a much bigger crowd then a game with McNeese State, that is for sure.
It also would draw bigger television ratings regionally, which can't be a bad thing for that "brand" that Alden is so worried about.
Some people that want to see this game talk about how Mizzou isn't winning any recruiting battles in St. Louis anyway.
That doesn't and shouldn't even matter.
When Mizzou decided to forget about tradition and uproot its conference affiliation (a move I fully supported and will forever), Alden made his vision very clear.
The University of Missouri athletic program is about competing at the highest level. It is also very much about making a lot of money.
Not playing SLU on a regular basis is contradictory to that notion.
Mizzou very much so has something to gain by playing SLU regularly and that something is cold hard cash.
Isn't that all that is important in college sports?
Comments
Post a Comment