Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz laments consecutive Big Ten national championships, SEC shortcomings: ‘It bothers us’

The balance of power in college football shifted back toward the Big Ten the last two years as the conference earned back-to-back national championships with Michigan’s 2023 title and Ohio State’s 2024 crown. That run snapped an eight-year stretch in which the Southeast region produced champion after champion and the SEC more often than not reigned supreme. That shift in favor of the Big Ten did not sit well with coaches in the SEC.

SEC coaches and administrators engaged in a week of grandstanding at the conference’s spring meetings, emphasizing the league’s status as the deepest and most competitive in college football and other sports. Some of those in attendance noted the SEC’s shortcomings, too, like its rare two-year College Football Playoff title drought.

“It bothers us as competitors,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said to ESPN. “We feel like we’re the best conference in college football, and we want to make sure that the ultimate prize at the end of the year is that national championship trophy.”

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Not once in the playoff era did the SEC go two years without a champion until Michigan and Ohio State played trophy keep-away with the conference. The last time it sustained a multi-year drought was in 2013 and 2014 when Florida State closed the BCS era with its most recent title and Ohio State opened the four-team playoff system with a run to glory.

“We haven’t been able to do that the last two years, and I think we’re all competitive enough that’s often what we’re competing for,” Drinkwitz said. “I don’t know if two years is a data point yet or a trend. Obviously, we have to take a look and see what we can do better.”

Alabama and Georgia did most of the SEC’s heavy lifting since the formation of the College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide accounts for three titles while the Bulldogs went back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. LSU notched the only other title in its historically dominant 2019 campaign.

Not only did the SEC fall short of a championship last season, but it also failed to send a team to the national title game. It finished second behind the Big Ten in terms of bids, too, in the inaugural 12-team event. Ohio State defeated Tennessee and Texas in the lone head-to-head matchups between the two conferences, and the Big Ten finished with a stronger overall record in CFP play.

The SEC is at the forefront of the CFP expansion push and, along with the Big Ten, seeks a move to a 16-team format starting in 2026. The conference is a staunch supporter of automatic bids, which would guarantee the SEC to place four teams apiece into the bracket each season.