Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz reveals Big Ten’s CFP betrayal

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While the 2026-27 season will continue utilizing the 12-team format for the College Football Playoff, there has been plenty of talk about potentially expanding the postseason to 16 or 24 teams. College football has been waiting for the Big Ten and SEC to reach certain agreements before finalizing the expansion, with one request from the Big Ten that SEC teams must play nine conference games during the regular season.

The upcoming campaign will have teams in the SEC playing the requested nine conference games. So, you’d think an agreement for expanding the College Football Playoff would become official, right? Apparently not, which led to Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz calling out the Big Ten for not following through after the SEC agreed to the regular season schedule change,” according to Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports.

“Last year, we were told if we went to nine (SEC) games, the Big Ten was going to vote to go to a 16-team Playoff in 2026,” said Drinkwitz.

Although the 43-year-old head coach blasted the Big Ten for not accepting the expansion to 16 teams for next season despite the SEC agreeing to the regular season schedule change, Drinkwitz seems to still favor fewer teams reaching the playoffs, per Auerbach.

He feels that because of the expansions, college football has become more about weekend entertainment than it is about competition, and feels the continuation of expanding the playoffs diminishes the SEC Championship Game.

“Holistically, for college football, we’ve gone from determining who the undisputed national champion is to really becoming valuable entertainment on Saturdays,” claimed Drinkwitz. “If you put 24 teams in a Playoff or 12 teams in a Playoff, I’m not sure the best team always wins. Matchups determine it…

“I believe in the SEC championship game,” continued Drinkwitz. “It’s one of the best games that the SEC puts on every single year, and I don’t know why you would want to get rid of that just because you want to get to the next thing.”

Expanding the College Football Playoff might be a good thing for Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers. The program ended last season with an 8-5 record, missing out on the postseason entirely. However, the Tigers are almost always viewed as a competitive program in the SEC, and have a chance to shake things up in college football next season.

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Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz reveals Big Ten’s CFP betrayal

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