There have been multiple instances recently in which Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey has rightfully boasted about his league staging 69 out of a possible 71 football games this past season, a stat that includes the SEC title contest in Atlanta.
What hasn’t been discussed as much is how the coronavirus pandemic altered the conference’s bowl landscape, as Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee received postseason invitations but never got to compete.
The Gamecocks and Volunteers went a combined 5-15 last season and weren’t exactly peaking in late December, with South Carolina undergoing a coaching transition and with Tennessee having launched an internal investigation into alleged violations that ultimately led to Jeremy Pruitt’s termination. It was a different story at Missouri, however, as the Tigers had completed a better-than-expected 5-5 season under first-year coach Eli Drinkwitz and were eager to take on No. 15 Iowa in the Music City Bowl.
Drinkwitz isn’t looking back, though, with his Tigers having already put on pads this spring. They will conduct their spring game March 20, a whopping four weeks before anyone else in the league.
“I don’t want to lay on the beach worrying about spring football,” Drinkwitz jokingly said of his spring break plans when asked on a recent Zoom call about the early start. “I’ve never really liked the idea of practicing for seven or eight practices, then you break, and then you come back. If we’re going to get out there, let’s get our minds on our business.