SEC head coach makes case for expanded playoff, conference play-in games

Oct 26, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz (left) talks with Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer (right) after a game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-Imagn Images

The Missouri Tigers’ head football coach Eli Drinkwitz is a fan of an expanded College Football Playoff and conference play-in games.

Drinkwitz expressed his thoughts during an interview on the SEC Network at SEC Media Days.

“I was one of the first to get up; I think I was the only one in the SEC to talk about we need more access in the playoffs, and they took a great idea, and they screwed it up,” Drinkwitz said. “And so I think we got to figure out how to have play-in games by the conferences and decide on the field how to get teams into an expanded playoffs. We need more access. 12 is too small, but going one through 24 and telling me a playoff committee is gonna select 24 teams that are gonna deserve to be in the playoffs. That’s insanity.”

The Missouri head coach also revealed that he is against a committee determining which teams make the playoffs.

“Bottom line is wins and losses are the number one metric they’re gonna value, and then number two, there’s some analytics and stats that don’t make sense that none of us would even recognize that they value in the process,” Drinkwitz said. “I think the challenge for me is there shouldn’t be a committee in determining who enters into the playoffs. It should be decided on the football field. Football is a game that’s played in a stadium on a field and there’s a winner and a loser, and I think we can all reconcile our emotions about it when it’s hey, you’ve played the game and you didn’t either play your best and you lost or you played your best and you won and that’s how you determine a champion. I think in any format, whether we expand the playoffs or not, when there’s a committee that’s going to determine the game, determine who’s in, there’s going to be a lot of controversy in that.”

There have been talks about expanding the College Football Playoff throughout the offseason.