Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz becomes latest SEC coach to make ridiculous complaints about Big Ten schedules

Will Stein discussed his team's schedule and notes that he'd love to only have to play 8 conference games instead of the mandatory 9.

The more that college football changes, the more some things remain the same. In this case, SEC coaches complaining about schedules.

As we rapidly approach the start of the 2026 season, the landscape of the sport has changed significantly. In the pre-NIL era, the SEC, led by Nick Saban's Alabama dynasty, dominated college football. In 10 years, from 2013-2022, SEC teams won six National Championships, three for the Crimson Tide, two for Georgia, and the Joe Burrow-led 2019 LSU Tigers.

But NIL almost immediately upended roster construction, creating more parity within the sport as former, say, Alabama backups, took bigger paydays to start elsewhere. As a result, there's a much more level playing field across college football, other teams in other conferences have improved their rosters, and the top of the SEC is no longer heads and shoulders above the competition.

JOEL KLATT ROASTS SEC: NICK SABAN ISN'T THERE 'WITH HIS BIG OLD COATTAILS FOR YOU TO RIDE AS A CONFERENCE'

Nick Saban, former head football coach at the University of Alabama, testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Unsurprisingly then, the SEC has failed to even reach the National Championship game in three straight seasons. And even worse, teams from the Big Ten Conference have not only reached the final, but won it in each of those years. Based on some preseason analytics-driven rankings, the Big Ten might be favored to win its fourth straight title with Ohio State and Oregon topping the sport.

There are reasonable, logical