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Just kidding! Barry Odom isn’t interested in Louisville

Here are today’s Mizzou Links.

By Josh Matejka

Barry Odom shuts down Louisville rumors

What a day! Yesterday’s links post was completely focused on the “Barry Odom and Louisville” rumors that permeated the end of the weekend. We’ll be tackling the same thing today, just with another (important) nugget of information added on to the story.

In the wake of Sunday’s report of mutual interest between Missouri’s Barry Odom and Louisville about the head-coaching position at the ACC school, Odom has “zero interest in Louisville” he told the Post-Dispatch in a text message Monday.

So there goes that! Honestly, this isn’t all that surprising. Like we pointed out yesterday, the rumors were likely his agent’s way of moving forward with contract talks. There’s no reason to think Odom won’t be back at his alma mater next year with a sizable pay raise and more financial support moving forward. And with the talent he’s got coming back, there might not be too much of a drop off.

Kelly Bryant: Future Tiger?

Here’s where the Missouri/Barry Odom stuff gets really interesting. We mentioned yesterday that the rumors surrounding Odom could hurt Missouri’s chances with Clemson transfer QB Kelly Bryant. Odom promptly shut those rumors down in public, but he also had a chance to squash them with Bryant in person.

Also, maybe Missouri isn’t so far away from finding Lock’s replacement after all. Sources have told the Tribune former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant met with Missouri Monday and his decision seems to be down to Missouri and Auburn. After reports surfaced Monday night that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn could be fired, Missouri seems like the most logical destination for Bryant.

That’s quite a development. If Odom is able to convince Bryant that (A) the Missouri situation is more stable than Auburn’s — it is — and (B) coming to Missouri gives him the biggest chance to win and improve himself under Derek Dooley’s tutelage, the Tigers may have the best shot at landing the highly coveted QB.

Talk about a coup for Odom: for years, a segment of Tiger fans have criticized him for winning with a Pinkel-recruited QB. If he were to answer by immediately landing a QB who was actively scouted by blue blood programs around the country? That’s a mighty, mighty flex.

Other football notes

  • PowerMizzou has a host of good information on the Kelly Bryant/Auburn coaching/general recruiting beats. If you act fast, maybe you can get in on their Cyber Monday deal before it closes.
  • Both Alex Schiffer and Dave Matter broke down where the Tigers could be headed for their bowl game. Spoiler alert, if you didn’t read yesterday’s links: the projections aren’t consistent.

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Yesterday at Rock M

More Links:

  • The NCAA released NET ratings — the replacement for RPI — yesterday, and it caused quite a stir amongst college basketball fans. Missouri checks in pretty low at No. 114, but Sam and Matt both had good thoughts on how to look at the new system.

Note the word, “premature.”

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