Eli Drinkwitz shares thoughts on regional rivalries, Mizzou renewing series with Texas and Oklahoma
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Eli Drinkwitz is on board with Mizzou renewing its rivalries with former Big 12 foes Texas and Oklahoma who are heading to the SEC. The Tigers head coach sees regional rivalries as an important part of college football that could be threatened by expansion driven by potential TV revenues.
At Monday’s SEC Media Days, Drinkwitz was asked, “What are your thoughts on Missouri renewing those old rivalries with Texas and Oklahoma when they join the league?”
“I’m all for it,” the Missouri coach responded.
Drinkwitz used the question as an opportunity to focus on the importance of regional rivalries in college football. The recent round of expansion has raised concerns in the college football community about the potential loss of some of those games.
“I think I said up here earlier that I think the beauty of college football is the rivalries that we have,” Drinkwitz continued. “I think it’s the shared traditions and pageantry of the game. I think we got to be careful that we don’t miss that or lose that in search of better TV contracts or better TV exposure. We’re going to lose the basis of who we are.
“I’m for playing consistent games. I’m for playing consistent opponents, building a consistent level of expectation that these are the teams that you need to beat, these are the teams that you need to be comparing yourself against.”
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
