Eli Drinkwitz warns against losing schedule consistency amid SEC expansion

During his appearance at SEC media days, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz gave his opinion on how the schedule will change with expansion. With Texas and Oklahoma entering the SEC and offering an opportunity for Missouri to renew rivalries with the schools, Drinkwitz said he was excited about the opportunity — but stressed how important it was to build a consistent schedule in the future and not rotate every year.

Eli Drinkwitz on a new SEC schedule

“I’m all for it,” said Drinkwitz about Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference. “I think I said up here earlier that I think the beauty of college football is the rivalries that we have. I think it’s the shared traditions and pageantry of the game. And I think we gotta be careful that we don’t miss that or lose that in search of better TV contracts or better TV exposure. We’re gonna lose the basis of who we are.

“And so I’m for playing consistent games, I’m for playing consistent opponents. Building a consistent level of expectations that these are the teams that you need to beat. These are the teams that you need to be comparing yourself against. And when you have a constant rotation, I don’t know how you’re gonna be able do that. I don’t know how you have a basis for comparison.”

Missouri opens up their season against Louisiana Tech, Kansas State on the road and Abilene Christian, setting the stage for a possible 3-0 record before they dive into SEC play. Their first three SEC games are against Auburn on the road, national champion Georgia at home and Florida on the road.

The Tigers were an original member of the Big 12 Conference alongside the Longhorns and the Sooners in 1996, and were a member until making the leap to the SEC in 2012. Now, with conference realignment and the addition of their old Big 12 rivals to the SEC — there’s a renewed chance at building back those ties and rivalry games.