Saint Louis just got a major boost ahead of Friday night’s showdown with Missouri.
Robbie Avila has been cleared to play after a St. Louis Circuit Court judge granted him an injunction for a fifth year of eligibility.
The ruling came Thursday and also blocks the NCAA from enforcing its roster limits to keep Avila off the floor for Saint Louis University. Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz told Mid-Major Madness that Avila “will be dressing and available for sure” for the matchup at the Enterprise Center.
That instantly changes the feel of a game that was already drawing attention. Avila, the 2026 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, had been in line to miss the season, but now the Billikens may have their best player back for one of their biggest nights on the calendar.
His case lines up closely with Mark Mitchell’s. Avila played four seasons in four years and sought a court ruling to return to the Billikens roster.
He also played in the NBA Summer League without ever signing with an NBA club. And, like Mitchell, he was the top player on an NCAA Tournament team last season.
That’s the kind of development both coaches had to prepare for. Josh Schertz and Dennis Gates built their teams expecting to be without Avila and Mitchell, but getting the chance to bring back your best player from a year ago changes the equation fast. With more experienced rosters around them, Friday’s game suddenly has another layer.
Avila brings a very specific challenge. He’s a skilled shooter and a sharp passer, but he’s slow footed and not especially athletic.
His basketball IQ is high enough that opponents can’t just ignore him, though. The obvious path is to put him in situations where quicker, more athletic defenders can pressure him and attack the rim.
Elsewhere around the Mizzou world, the day is packed. Mizzou Tennis is in Nashville for the June Stewart Invite to finish the fall schedule.
Both Mizzou basketball teams are in action tonight, with the men facing SLU in St. Louis and the women heading to Little Rock to play UALR.
Both tip at 7 p.m. Volleyball also gets Texas at Hearnes at 7.
There’s also plenty of movement in the football conversation. After the first College Football Playoff rankings were released, Notre Dame landed at No. 11, a sign the selection committee isn’t sold on the Irish’s lack of quality wins. They get a big chance Saturday night against Miami (FL) in South Bend, where they’re 7.5-point favorites.
Notre Dame’s profile remains one of the more interesting ones to watch. The team is clearly good, but the loss to BYU exposed the weakness of its schedule.
If it can’t beat Miami this weekend, the path to the playoff gets very hard to see. Another reason why they need to join a real league.
There’s also a surprising pick in the SEC discussion: South Carolina. Shane Beamer’s team has been rolling since its overtime loss to Kentucky, and the Gamecocks are getting the nod again.
The thinking is simple enough - South Carolina put up 40-plus points against Oklahoma in Norman despite four turnovers, and Texas A&M doesn’t look equipped to keep pace. The prediction is a South Carolina win by a touchdown at home, with the belief that the Aggies won’t score much.
On the Mizzou side, one player drawing praise is Damarion Fowlkes. He has been used more heavily in the offense lately, and that has helped open up more creativity in the rushing game. Against the latest opponent, he didn’t catch a pass, but he ran the ball three times for 18 yards and was targeted twice by Simmons.
The bigger trend is the increase in his workload. From weeks 2 through 5, Fowlkes averaged just 5.8 offensive snaps per game.
Over the last three weeks, that number has jumped to 18. He’s already proven dangerous on special teams, where he has scored once, and the expanded role on offense only adds to his value.
Mizzou’s pass rush is another storyline worth watching. Early in the season, the Tigers made life miserable for quarterbacks.
Over the last two weeks, that edge has faded. After piling up 18 sacks in the first six games, Mizzou has only one sack over its last two contests, along with just three tackles for loss and seven quarterback hurries.
That dip may be tied to the type of quarterbacks the Tigers have faced recently. The next one on the schedule is Arch Manning, who can hurt defenses with his legs but also has a tendency to hold the ball in the pocket.
And in hoops, the lineup work has already started to point toward tonight’s game. A review of the Cleveland State rotation noted that, beyond the growing lead, Dennis Gates mostly kept the deeper options on the bench until the final five minutes. Rowe and Randall saw brief first-half run, but the second half was mostly about lineups that could realistically be used in bigger games - including the one against the Billikens.
That same lookahead has also sharpened the focus on Saint Louis, where the conversation keeps circling back to Avila. Now, with the injunction in place, the matchup has become even more interesting.
In Other News...
Ahmad Hardys Mizzou Return Came After A Comeback Few Saw Coming
Ahmad Hardys path back to the field for Missouri was anything but ordinary. Shot in the leg in May and forced into surgery that placed a metal rod in his femur, the running back spent months working through rehab before finally making it back for Halloween, when he took part in the Tigers win over Arkansas.
For a Missouri team that has leaned on toughness all season, Hardys return carried real weight beyond the box score. Eli Drinkwitz made clear how much the staff valued both the recovery itself and the way Hardy was able to contribute once he was back on the field, a reminder of how much had to go right just for this moment to happen. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous 2027 Offense Just Got A Lot More Interesting
Missouris offensive outlook for 2027 got a major boost with Austin Simmons back in the fold, giving the Tigers a proven starting quarterback to build around as they keep shaping the roster for the future. Simmons arrived in Columbia after three seasons at Ole Miss and has already started eight games this season, enough to make him one of the most important pieces in Missouris long-range plans.
The arrangement still leaves some uncertainty, though, since his contract gives him the option to enter the 2027 NFL Draft if that path becomes available. Even so, Missouri now has a clearer picture at the most important position, and with several other skill-position players also eligible for 2027, the offense suddenly has a much more defined core to work with. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Just Sent A Clear Message By Bringing Back SLU
Missouri is making a notable scheduling move with Saint Louis, bringing the Billikens back onto the Tigers calendar for the first time since 2001. The teams are set to meet Nov. 6 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, and the game will be part of a new annual series over the next three years under the Regions Bank Show-Me Showdown banner.
Dennis Gates initiated the matchup, a sign that Missouri is willing to lean into regional rivalries while also strengthening its nonconference profile. Both coaches have acknowledged the weight of the game, and for the Tigers, this is the kind of meeting that can matter when NCAA Tournament resumes are being judged later in the season. [Read more 🡒]