The college bowl system has been slowly imploding since the College Football Playoff was first introduced a decade ago, but Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz says his team is embracing the opportunity to play one more game this season.
Missouri finished the regular season 8-4. The Tigers have accepted an invitation to face Virginia in the Gator Bowl, which will be played on Dec. 27 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. During an interview with OutKick’s Dan Dakich on Monday, Drinkwitz was asked about Missouri’s decision to play another game.
“People say anytime, anywhere. I guess some people mean it and some don’t. For us right now, we’ve got an opportunity to go play in a bowl game. I’m fired up about the opportunity,” Drinkwitz said. “Everybody’s different. Everybody’s season is totally different. Our goals got changed when our quarterback got dinged up and injured. For us, this is a heck of an opportunity.”
Drinkwitz added that he is excited to be able to play in Jacksonville at an NFL stadium against a quality opponent in ACC regular-season champion Virginia. He also noted that there are some players who never know when their last game is going to be played.
“I love to play. I know our seniors love to play the game. I think the reality of it is you never know when the last time you get to play football is,” Drinkwitz said. “I’ve spoken about this a lot, I don’t like this playoff-or-bust mentality. I think it’s bad for college football. I think it’s bad for the sport. I think the playoffs are awesome. I don’t think it’s nearly inclusive enough. … Committees have totally screwed up American government. They’ve screwed up most everything that’s good, and now we’re letting committees screw up college football.”
Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz on the decision to play a bowl game:
— OutKick (@Outkick) December 8, 2025
"People say, 'anytime, anywhere.' I guess some people mean it, some people don't… I don't like this playoff or bust mentality… we're letting committees screw up college football."@dandakich @CoachDrinkwitz pic.twitter.com/lBvYxmKbRK
Several schools have declined bowl invitations for a variety of reasons. The most notable is Notre Dame, who are furious over their College Football Playoff snub.
With the College Football Playoff now at 12 teams, many of the nation’s top programs view it as not worth their time to take part in a postseason game if they are not part of the tournament. Drinkwitz sees it differently, and it sounds like Missouri players agree with their coach.
