When the college football season debuted in late August and Missouri defeated Illinois 40-34 in St. Louis, nobody thought too much of it. The game seemed just another season opener, albeit a Border battle that prove more interesting in years to come.
Nonetheless, here we are on December’s doorstep and Missouri is ranked No. 1 in the country, Illinois is No. 15 and both are basking the in the glow of glorious seasons.
Mizzou is within one win of playing for a national championship and Illinois is either headed to a BCS bowl game or a prime bowl encounter in Florida.
In both cases, the Tigers and Illini have pleasantly surprised fans who couldn’t have expected either team to enjoy this type of success. Be honest, now.
And south in Carbondale, the Salukis have reached the semifinals for the 1-A playoffs, making it a Shootout Saturday around here.
It’s rare in December when college football overshadows college basketball in St. Louis and Southwestern Illinois, but the the case this Dec. 1.
By the end of the month, or around the Illini-Mizzou basketball game on Dec. 22, I’ll wonder if we will be saying the same thing.
The smart money says a resounding yes.
All I can tell you is stay tuned and don’t trade in your football program for a basketball one until after the national championship.

College basketball is back and I suspect it’s going to be a quality season for Midwest teams.
Let’s look at the men’s side this week:
Illinois and Missouri will be good and Saint Louis is flashing an improved look. It’ll be interesting to see how the Billikens fare under first-year coach Rick Majerus. My guess is successful.
Nobody has been better the past five years around these parts than SIU-Carbondale, which has gone to the NCAA Tournament each year and won or shared the Missouri Valley Conference title in the past half decade.
The Salukis are overwhelming favorites to repeat and they also should grab the tournament title in St. Louis.
SIUE has a new coach in Lennox Forrester in its last year in D-2. Look for the Cougars to go out with a bang and then make the jump to the big time.
LCCC, coming off a 27-win season and a fourth place finish in the D-2 JUCO nationals, is rebuilding, but has some talented players, including three from Alton: John Steen, Justin Sims and Aaron Henley.
I can’t wait for the first tipoff.
How about you?

By STEVE PORTER

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville announced earlier this year it was taking the plunge into Division I athletics. The Cougars will officially compete at that level in 2008-09. SIUE is participating in D-2 for the final year and the Cougars will say goodbye to the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which has been good for them.
Likewise, SIUE has been a snug fit in the GLVC, which includes UMSL, Quincy and Southern Indiana, among others.
Now, the Cougars are hunting for a new conference, most likely The Summit (formerly Mid-Continent) or the Ohio Valley. The OVC includes Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri state and a bunch of Kentucky and Tennessee schools. But that all play football and that’s a sticking point for SIUE.
The Summit includes Western Illinois, a couple of Indiana schools, Missouri-Kansas City, but also stretches to Centenary in Shreveport, La. and Southern Utah in Cedar City.
The Horizon and Missouri Valley don’t seem to be on SIUE’s map yet, but anything could happen down the road.
The Cougars are taking a calculated gamble going D-1. How do you think it will play out?
Let me know.

Illinois football is the rage thse days statewide and that’s a sharp contrast fromlast year when the Illini went 2-10 and seemed to be a program in disarray. In fact, Illinois was playing younger players in 2006 and seemingly disguising what it might accomplish this season.
Nobody expected a 5-1 record at this point — don’t let anybody kid you about it — but everybody thought there would be improvement.
Of course, in football you usually don’t go from 2-10 to 10-2 and the Illini haven’t gotten there yet, but there’s a chance they could do it. The Michigan and Ohio State games will tell how far they have come and if they have a chance to win the Big Ten.
For now, it’s a relief to see the program escape the ash can and rise to No. 18 in the country. Fans are actually flocking to venerable Memorial Stadium again.
More on this turnaround later.