Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007
By Steve Porter
Basketball normally is the most attractive sport at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Salukis have made it their passion and a continuing success story at a (dare I say it) mid-major school. Actually, I think MVC basketball has passed the mid-major level. But that’s another story for a different day.
Now, football is growing about as quickly. SIUC, which belongs to the Gateway Conference, is one win away from playing for the national title in the Football Championship Series (that’s 1-A for you old-timers).
SIUC welcomes Delaware at 3 p.m. Saturday on national television (ESPN) at McAndrew Stadium and if the Salukis prevail, trhey’ll be matched against Applachian State or Richmond in the finals next weekend in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Yes, it’s that Appalachian State, which upset Michigan the first week of the season.
The Salukis won the championship in 1983, when Rey Depmsey coached them and Roxana High standout Gary Carter played for them. So it has been a long road back to the top and coach Jerry Kill has SIUC humming.
It’d be great to see the Salukis taking the Chattanoga Choo Choo next week and then making another run for the MVC title in basketball. Little Egypt is percolating these days under a pyramid of sports success.
Football is no longer wandering in the wilderness.

Poor ol’ Mizzou-Raw
That’s Raw – as in raw deal.
I really mean it. Missouri got the short end of the stick. But Tigers fans shouldn’t blame anybody other than the Orange Bowl Selection Committee for not making it to a BCS bowl.
Don’t blame Kansas. Don’t blame Illinois. Don’t blame the Rose Bowl. Don’t blame the BCS – well maybe you can blame the BCS. And while you’re at it, maybe blame yourselves a little for not taking care of business against Oklahoma.
The fact that Kansas got the nod to go to the BCS Orange Bowl instead of Mizzou reeks to high heaven. The Jayhawks were beaten by Mizzou two weeks ago, but they’re headed to Miami and Mizzou is Dallas-bound for the Cotton Bowl.
The Rose bowl folks opted for tradition when they chose Illinois to face Southern Cal. The Pac-10 vs. Big Ten roots in Pasadena’s Jan. 1 classic are deep ones.
But when the Orange Bowl folks opted for Kansas, they broke traditional ties with the Big 12. Mizzou finished higher than KU in the conference and beat the Jayhawks head to head. But it’s all about money and for some reason, they feel Kansas will draw more fans than Missouri.
Show ’em the money – that’s the name of this game.
The average January temperature in Miami is 75 degrees. In Dallas, the average is 43 degrees. Brrrrr. Now that’s really a cold shoulder.
But don’t fret, Mizzou fans. The Cotton Bowl is no Weed-Eater Bowl by any stretch. It’s long been one of my favorite bowls to watch on New Year’s Day. One of the first bowl games established, its history is long and storied. Texas Christian beat Marquette University 16-6 in the first Cotton Bowl game back in 1937. Since that game, the Cotton Bowl has been the site of some of the best New Year’s Day games and has played host to some of the sport’s best players, including Bo Jackson, Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, Bart Starr, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Doug Flutie, Joe Theisman, Babe Parelli and Eli Manning.
That’s not bad company for Mizzou players Chase Daniel, Tony Temple – and even Marquette Catholic High’s Steven Blair, who’s the Tigers’ long snapper on punts and field goals.
A big crowd at the ol’ Cotton Bowl will be on hand to see Mizzou take on Arkansas in the 2008 Cotton Bowl. My guess is that they’ll see one of the best games of the day.

- Pete Hayes