Mizzou Coach Drinkwitz Wants 9 SEC Games

Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz wants one thing from the SEC going forward -- more games.

“I’m personally for a nine-game schedule,” Drinkwitz told the media this week, via the Kansas City Star.

Or more specifically, more rivalry games within the conference.

Currently, Missouri's top rivalry in the conference seems to be the Arkansas Razorbacks, who became its cross-division rival once they entered the SEC.

Arkansas is also the most sensible rivalry from a geographic standpoint for the Tigers.

And for Drinkwitz, those regional rivalries are an extremely important dynamic to the SEC.

“I think it’s important for the SEC to continue to prove its dominance,” Drinkwitz said. “I also believe in playing some regional rivalries. To me, the only plan that’s been presented that continues the SEC rivalry games is the nine-game schedule, and I think that’s what’s best for the SEC’s future.”

Unfortunately, things are about to change in a big way for both the Tigers and the rest of the conference.

Texas and Oklahoma are coming no later than 2025.

Once that happens, the structure of the SEC is likely to change in a big way, with the prevailing theory being that it will switch to a four-team pod system.

The most logical pod for both the Longhorns and Sooners would consist of Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Arkansas -- giving the Longhorns annual games against all three of its biggest historical rivals.

In that scenario, Missouri likely gets thrown into a pod with an entirely new set of yearly 'rivals', which would seemingly have them starting fresh in that aspect.

And the one that makes the most sense for

Other pods that could potentially make sense include the following:

Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Tennessee
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky

Meaning that the Tigers could get thrown into a pod with Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and LSU.

Perhaps that is why Drinkwitz is advocating for more conference games so that the Tigers can attempt to hold on to the Arkansas rivalry.

Either way, he is not shying away from the challenge.

You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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