Barry Odom had only minutes earlier claimed his most important victory as a head coach when his thoughts turned Saturday night to the lowest moment of his career.Odom was fired by Missouri five years ago to the day,

Now thriving at UNLV, former Mizzou coach Barry Odom spoke last Saturday about what he learned after his firing by his beloved alma mater.

The Rebels play at No. 10 Boise State. Because those are the two highest-ranked teams in the CFP poll, the winner will advance to the playoffs as the Group of Five representative.

UNLV should do whatever necessary to keep Barry Odom as its football coach. It’s the “whatever necessary” part that sometimes becomes tough to navigate. People will call. Schools from Power Four conferences will be interested in Odom.