Missouri's Drinkwitz Questions Why Conferences Still Matter in CFP

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has questioned whether conference membership still serves a purpose once the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams, joining a second Power 4 coach who has raised the same point since the format was announced, according to ESPN.

The question arrives at an awkward moment for league commissioners who built their television deals around conference identity. If the only prize that matters is a playoff berth, and conferences no longer stage the title games that used to decide it, some coaches are asking what exactly a league is for.

What is changing in the playoff format?

The expanded 24-team CFP begins at the end of the 2027 season, according to ESPN senior college football writer Mark Schlabach. One of the ripple effects of that expansion is the elimination of Power 4 conference championship games, which had long served as de facto playoff qualifiers.

Why did Drinkwitz raise this question?

Drinkwitz is the latest Power 4 coach to ask whether conference affiliation carries weight if the sole objective is making a 24-team field large enough to absorb most contenders anyway, per ESPN's reporting. Without a championship game forcing divisional winners to settle anything on the field, the practical difference between playing in one league or another narrows, in his framing.

Is he the only coach saying this?

No. ESPN's reporting notes that two coaches from Power 4 schools have now posed the same question since the 24-team format was announced, though the network's story identifies Drinkwitz as the most recent. The repetition suggests the concern is not isolated to one locker room or one conference office.

What happens to conference championship games now?

Under the new structure, Power 4 leagues lose the title-game mechanism that once crowned a conference champion and, in many years, determined playoff eligibility. ESPN holds the exclusive media rights to the expanded playoff through the 2031 season, a long-term commitment that underscores how much infrastructure now rests on a 24-team bracket rather than on conference-by-conference showdowns.

What's next for the Power 4 conferences?

ESPN's report does not detail a formal response from conference offices, and no commissioner is quoted defending the championship-game model in the available reporting. The debate Drinkwitz has reopened — whether a conference needs a trophy game to justify its existence in a 24-team field — is likely to resurface as other coaches and administrators react to a format that takes effect in 2027.

For fans trying to track how bracket math might shake out across leagues, puzzle-style tools such as the Smorgi Challenge offer a lighter way to pass the time between now and kickoff of the new format.

The full ESPN account, including additional context on the 24-team playoff rollout, is available at espn.com.