The expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 teams to 24 teams next season is coming with the elimination of conference title games for Power Four conferences, meaning the SEC Championship will be no more after a rich 35-year history.

With one of the best events of the year going extinct that fans across the South look forward to, it has left many wondering about the direction college football has taken in recent years. It’s not just the fans either, the head coaches are starting to feel the same way too.

Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz, who has never been afraid to share his opinions, asked a question the SEC and the rest of college football had better start pondering: if there are no conference title games, what is even the point of conferences?

NEW: Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz on the elimination of conference championships:

"My question is why are we associated with conferences anymore if we’re not playing for a conference championship? If the point now is just to be playing into a sea of 24, are we just doing it for… https://t.co/XdBZATEBAW pic.twitter.com/p5R2va1hMn

— On3 (@On3) November 11, 2026

“Why are we associated with conferences anymore if we’re not playing for a conference championship?” he asked. “If the point now is just to be playing into a sea of 24, are we just doing it for scheduling affiliation? If we’re just doing it for scheduling affiliation, is there a reason to be flying all the way across the country to play games from a national perspective? I think that’s where this conversation is going to end up leading to.”

Drinkwitz took things a step further, talking about how none of the changes in the sport from conference re-alignment to the transfer portal to playoff expansion have been to the benefit of the fan, and it’s actually quite the opposite.

“We’ve devalued some of the things that made college football so special,” he said. “Bowl games are no longer valuable. Building a program and having a season to build for the next season, where your fans could be excited about these guys playing, ‘OK, man, next year this got a chance.’ There’s none of that because you don’t know who’s going to be back. Every team’s starting over each year. There’s no real regional rivalries anymore because there’s no more regional conferences outside of ours, which is the best conference in college football.

“We’ve made a lot of decisions, and we’ve asked a lot of people their opinions. But have we cared about the fan? I don’t know. I don’t know that answer to that question.”