The two football coaches crisscross the region, recruiting against each other, and wouldn’t you know, they ended up in the same place Friday. See, it was Illini Night at Busch Stadium, so before the game, I chatted with Illinois’ Lovie Smith near the Cardinals dugout … and then I walked out to Ballpark Village to see the Tigers’ Barry Odom at the Mizzou Coaches Caravan celebration.
Both coaches played coy when told the other was on the premises. It appears that Mizzou announced its caravan on April 19, while Illinois’ press release for Illini Night — which is set up through the Cardinals — was dated April 27.