Doesn't mean more: Mizzou coach questions need for conferences in 24-team CFP era

• Mark SchlabachNov 10, 2026, 03:04 PM ET

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  • Senior college football writer
  • Author of seven books on college football
  • Graduate of the University of Georgia

One of the ripple effects of the expanded 24-team College Football Playoff, which begins at the end of the 2027 season, is the elimination of Power 4 conference championship games.

Since the announcement, two coaches from Power 4 schools have asked if playing in a conference is still necessary if the only goal is to make the 24-team CFP field.

The SEC announced Monday that the 35th SEC championship game, which will be played Dec. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, will be the final one. The ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 also said they will no longer play conference title games beyond this season in announcements that coincided with the expanded CFP.

The Army-Navy game will be played on what used to be conference championship game weekend in future seasons, and it will have a standalone window while CFP teams will have a weekend to rest.

"Times are changing, so you've got to adjust with the times," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz told reporters Tuesday. "But 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 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?"

On Monday, Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said he wasn't sure how much conference affiliation would matter in the future without title games. His Demon Deacons are in good position to play in the final ACC championship game, which will be played Dec. 5 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"It can benefit a team like us; it can hurt a team like us," Dickert said. "So, there's a lot of situations. You can play all sides of the coin. But to not say we're going to have conference champions, why do we have conferences? I know there's a lot of things that go into all that. Just feels odd."

Dickert acknowledged that conference title games can be a CFP elimination game for teams like Wake Forest, which was 16th in the CFP selection committee's initial rankings. Notre Dame, an independent, isn't in a conference and doesn't have to play another game.

"The new playoff format, I think, forces everybody's hands into this," Dickert said. "I don't know my feeling. I don't like it, personally. Right now, you're like, 'Man, all of the championship games are going away.'"

Drinkwitz said he worries that the sport is changing too rapidly with the expanded playoff, NIL, conference realignment and the transfer portal.

"[If] you look back into the decisions we've made in college football for the last six years, and we've made them to where we're at now, I think you look back and now we've devalued some of the things that made college football so special," Drinkwitz said.

"Bowl games are no longer valuable. Building a program and having a season to build for the next season, where your fans can be excited. 'OK, man, next year this has got a chance.' There's none of that because you don't know who's going to be back. Every team is 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."

When Drinkwitz took over the Missouri program in 2020, he said one of his goals was to lead the Tigers to an SEC title. Missouri played in the SEC championship game twice, losing 59-42 to Auburn in 2013 and 42-13 to Alabama the next season.

Starting next season, the SEC and the other Power 4 leagues will determine their conference titles by the season-long standings.

"We made a lot of decisions, and we've asked a lot of people their opinions, but have we cared about the fans?" Drinkwitz said. "I don't know the answer to that question. Do I think the conference championship games were a good thing? Yes, I do. I think they were great.

"Do I think that they're no longer important? Yeah, I agree with the assessment that there's really no reason to play them moving forward. But it is disappointing to me because one of the goals that I had coming into this university was to try to get a conference championship and win that game in Atlanta."