Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Transcript
Eli Ǵڴ:Apologies for the late start today, folks. I'm back from football practice and rolling now. I'll stick around 'til a bit after 2 p.m. today for your questions and takes.
Ұdzܳ:What is the latest on Desiree Reed-Francois's buyout? It's a public university so this should be open inforrmation, correct?
Ǵڴ:I don't have an update there. It's been very hush-hush. I don't expect it to be readily public either, even though Mizzou is a state university. The school (more so the Board of Curators, which does the highest level of decision-making, of course) can close meetings and records that deal with "HR" type things. The contract buyout seems to fall under that. More distance on the saga might loosen things up, or maybe there will be a budget line that pops up. I've got an eye out for it but again, I don't think either party is going to blast an announcement out there about what happened.
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ϳܱپDzԲ:I know that Phillip Roche is being “disciplined within the program” – a decision which in my opinion is damaging to the university’s reputation – but isn’t he in serious trouble with the state of Missouri? How do you blow off EIGHT court appearance and not be in jail? How do you have multiple tickets including one for 117 MPH and still have a license? What am I missing here? Or is he simply untouchable because he is a prized football player?
Ǵڴ:He did go to jail because there was a warrant issued because of those missed court appearances. (A lawyer representing Roche has now appeared in most of those cases so it seems the matter should be resolved.) Court records suggest that some notices were sent to an old or incorrect address for Roche. I'm not saying that justifies anything or that a judge will look at that and excuse what happened — just something I noticed. I also don't know what goes on in someone's head that prompts them to drive that fast. Maybe it's just because I drive a Corolla, but I don't get the instinct to try hitting triple digits in my car. What the consequences ultimately are will be decided in a courtroom. That process has just taken a while because Roche has yet to show up for it. And whether or not you agree with Drinkwitz's course of action, it seems like that's settled as well — Roche has been at practice consistently besides the one day I reported he was absent (and one day right after that is unclear because media weren't invited). What this team has to hope, now, is that there aren't other offenses like his. Never good for a program to make a habit of having names from the roster appear in jail logs.
Robbo:Anyone else worried about the Boston College game???
Ǵڴ:I mentioned this on the podcast we put out yesterday, but they're not a team to take lightly. I'm not saying Boston College will win the ACC or that Mizzou shouldn't win that game handily, but I'm intrigued by them. Bill O'Brien (the former Texans head coach and Belichick assistant in New England) is the coach there now. I've heard good things about Thomas Castellanos, the quarterback there, who's a dual-threat guy — something Mizzou struggled to play against a bit last year. I could see BC catching folks by surprise in Week 3. They're one of the teams I'll have to watch beforehand to really get a grasp on how much of a threat they pose, but it's not exactly a pancake game.
Mizzou Tommy:Who do you see starting the season at CB for the Tigers now that Rakestraw and Abrams-Draine have departed for the NFL?
Ǵڴ:It seems like Dreyden Norwood, who filled in when Rakestraw was hurt last year, will start at one corner spot while Toriano Pride, who transferred in from Clemson, will fill the other one. (A brief aside — I''ve got a story on Pride coming for tomorrow's paper/online that I think you'll all enjoy.) Marcus Clarke is likely CB3. CB4 seems more up for grabs. Freshman Cameron Keys has wowed a lot of people in preseason camp. Maybe he takes that spot.
Tahart27:Good day to you Eli! These ridiculous number of teams that we now have in conferences with all the insane expansion...well I won't say it's going to lead to the ruination of the game eventually, but do you think a lot of College Football fans might eventually be turned off and become indifferent to the game when they realize that--going by the sheer math of it--their favorite team in the SEC, Big 10, etc has, say, just going with the SEC, a 1/16th chance of winning their conference?
Hoff:I have my qualms with realignment like most people do, I think, but I actually don't see this particular aspect as a problem, and here's why. First, it's not like every team has an equal chance at an SEC title whether there are 14 or 16 teams... there are really only 4-5 teams you could say are clearly in contention, and even then, that might be a little generous to some. Second, what College Football Playoff expansion does is render a lot of conference championships less valuable. I'm not going to say they don't have value — a title is a title and it also comes with a first-round bye in the CFP — but there will be 2-3 SEC teams in the 12-team playoff field on a consistent basis who didn't win the conference championship but are still very much in the mix for a national title. I feel like that is probably more exciting for fans, and Mizzou's a prime example. All of y'all seem to be more excited for this season than any other campaign in recent memory. But I don't hear buzz that is centered around getting to play the likes of Georgia or Texas in Atlanta in December. It's about getting a playoff game at Faurot a couple weeks later, playing in a bowl game that has title implications, that sort of thing. Realignment has shifted plenty of things, but I think the CFP is making bigger waves in the SEC.
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