College football reporter Brett McMurphy takes dig at Eli Drinkwitz after Twitter joke
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz joked leading up to the SEC schedule reveal that his team would be playing the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL and the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2024 season.
Action Network reporter Brett McMurphy used the the tweet from Drinkwitz as an opportunity to bring up an old talking point between Missouri and McMurphy.
“Kansas?” McMurphy replied to Drinkwitz.
The dig at Eli Drinkwitz came after Brett McMurphy reported around bowl season last year that Missouri did not want to play Kansas in a bowl game. Drinkwitz and Missouri denied the report, but McMurphy doubled down on his reporting.
“(Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart) also told me multiple bowl officials told him Missouri did not want to play Kansas,” McMurphy said last December. “What I reported originally was that Missouri did not want to play Kansas in a bowl game. I did not say they did not want to play in the Liberty Bowl. I said the Liberty Bowl was an opportunity for the schools to play because of the bowl tie-in. They could have also played in the Texas Bowl. They could have also played in the Sugar Bowl. What I reported was Missouri officials were telling bowl officials and people within the SEC, who then relayed that information to the bowl officials, ‘We do not want to play Kansas in a bowl game.’ And so that’s what I reported.”
Missouri ended up playing Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl instead, falling to the Demon Deacons by a score of 27-17. Kansas did play in the Liberty Bowl, facing off against Arkansas. The Jayhawks lost a thrilling 55-53 triple-overtime game.
Why Eli Drinkwitz is in favor of a 9-game scheduling model
The SEC is going to stay at eight conference games for the 2024 season, even though not everyone agreed with that decision. One of the people who was in favor of moving to the nine game model was Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz.
“Well, based on the last information I was given, which the last time it was really discussed at length with the coaches that I’m aware of was last year at this meeting, I’m on the nine-game schedule. I like the setup of three permanents. I think the more permanents that you have, the more that you can measure your program against consistent opponents. I also think it preserves the basis of the SEC,” Drinkwitz said.
“The Southeastern Conference is the best conference in college football because of its fans and the passion of its fan base. And I think you run the risk of losing that with the short-sightedness of, well, this schedule is not fair for me. It’s not fair for me if I have to play eight.”