Missouri head football coach Eli Drinkwitz has a new idea for how to crown a national champion.
While speaking at SEC media days this week in Atlanta, the Tigers' head coach vouched for expanding the College Football Playoff field to a whopping 30 (!) teams.
Just last season, the CFP debuted its inaugural 12-team playoff—expanded from the four-team postseason that ran from 2014 to '23.
"When I think about college football right now and think about what do we need to do, I think it really comes down to two things: what is best for our players and what is best for our fans," Drinkwitz explained in response to a question about possible expansion. "The rest of us are really only important because of the players and the fans."
"... We need to expand [the] opportunity, energy and excitement," he continued. "My math could be wrong here, but if we did the 12, you had four automatic qualifiers, everyone thinks it's limiting. It's not limiting if you take those four automatic qualifiers and you divide that up into eight opportunities, eight play-in game[s]. Now you're taking the SEC is playing in for eight, BIG Ten is playing in for eight. Since we've expanded the bubble to 16, give three to the Big 12, three to the ACC, 1-1. Now you have 30 teams. Thirty teams. Now we're talking about an opportunity for 30 teams, 30 fan bases to be excited and engaged, giving revenue. Thirty teams with players who have access to compete for a championship. So for me, I think that makes a lot more sense."
While it would undoubtedly be exciting for fans, and a moneymaker for universities, that long and grueling of a postseason certainly doesn't sound like the best thing for the players.
Drinkwitz's Missouri team went 10-3 in 2024, capping their campaign off with a 27-24 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Music City Bowl. They finished the year ranked No. 19 in the final CFP poll—just a bit outside of the postseason.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as SEC Head Coach Vouches for 30-Team College Football Playoff.
