Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz cries sour grapes on Big Ten CFP titles

"It just means more" sure has turned into every excuse under the sun down in the SEC. Now that the Big Ten has won the last three College Football Playoff national championships, the spin machine is in full swing, much like the political hacks that take to television screens after a hotly contested presidential debate.

We've already heard from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey claim that the last three years are a "narrow band," and the SEC is clearly still the best football conference in the country, and now Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz is not only drinking the Kool-Aid, but he's in the kitchen mixing it with water and handing it out to the masses. While at the podium on Monday in Tampa at the annual SEC kickoff event, Drinkwitz made a ridiculous claim about why the Big Ten has been able to win the last three national titles. It started off well enough, but then it weaved into sour grapes, excuses, and confirmation bias territory.

When asked about the recent dominance from the Big Ten, Drinkwitz had some good points -- to start.

“There’s been a couple of reasons (for the Big Ten’s success),” Drinkwitz said Monday at SEC Football Kickoff Media Days. “I think there was some great decisions by their leadership. There’s some things we look back on in the SEC and maybe we shouldn’t have done it that way.

“There’s also cycles to college football. And once you get into expanded playoffs, it’s all about matchups and draws and our matchups and draws haven’t been as good as we obviously wanted them to be in order to be successful."

Okay, fair enough, but remember, Ohio State went through a murderer's row to win the title as any team will do in an expanded playoff. Then things went into "it just excuses more" territory.

“Obviously, when you don’t play an A4 (Power 4) game as one of your non-conference games, and that was the quote you were looking for. It’s pretty obvious.”

Yes, it's true that the Big Ten is the only Power 4 league that doesn't require its members to play a nonconference Power 4 opponent, but let's let go of the excuse machine, shall we? Over the last three years, nine SEC teams have made the CFP, and not a single one of them made the national championship game. We used to hear that the sweet tea and grits league was so tough that the teams were battle-tested more than other clubs, so of course they were prepared and able to win national titles. Now? That's not the case, huh? Now, that one nonconference game is enough to tire out teams in the SEC to where they just can't limp through the gauntlet? C'mon.

NEW: Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz says the Big Ten's non-conference schedules are a big reason for its 3 straight national titles:

"When you don't play a (non-conference) A4 game."

(h/t @Brett_McMurphy) https://t.co/qsnZE2usl1pic.twitter.com/kiogmhfmjr

— On3 (@On3) July 20, 2026

Drinkwitzk went on to make more excuses like the road environments in the SEC and the conference moving to nine games within the SEC -- something the Big Ten has done for years -- without added access to an expanded playoff, but it's clear the SEC suits and coaches are in full-blown spin and excuse-making mode now. The league has had plenty of access to show what it can do, and it has fallen short the last three seasons.

I never thought I'd see the day when all the SEC chest thumpers resorted to hand-wringing, but here we are.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz cries sour grapes on Big Ten CFP titles