Following House v. NCAA settlement approval, the long-awaited roster limits went into effect. For football, that figure became 105 players – except in the SEC. The conference planned to maintain the 85-scholarship limit previously in place under NCAA rules. The other power leagues went up to 105, though, to maximize the amount of players on […]
Following House v. NCAA settlement approval, the long-awaited roster limits went into effect. For football, that figure became 105 players – except in the SEC.
The conference planned to maintain the 85-scholarship limit previously in place under NCAA rules. The other power leagues went up to 105, though, to maximize the amount of players on the roster in the new era.
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As the SEC prepares to add another conference game next year, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz questioned that decision to stay at 85. He called it “disappointing” the league didn’t go to the full limit allowed under the settlement even though others did and called it a “disadvantage.”
“This year and last year, we had two bye weeks,” Drinkwitz said Wednesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “Next year, you’re back to a one bye-week schedule. We have nine SEC games and oh, by the way, we are only at an 85 scholarship limits while other conferences went up to 105. When you look at the SEC, they’re doing some really good things, but we’ve all got to get on the same page about competitive equity here and about what we’re doing in the SEC to give ourselves a competitive advantage. We can’t stay behind the 8-ball.
“I think it was a disappointing choice for us to stay at 85 scholarships when the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the ACC have the ability to have 105 scholarships. That’s a real disadvantage.”
Eli Drinkwitz: ‘I’m sure there’s real reasons for it’
Drinkwitz isn’t the first person in the SEC to question the decision not to go to 105 players on rosters. Alabama athletics director Greg Byrnedid so last month during an appearance on the Crimson Tide Sports Network’s preseason Hey Coach radio show.
As for why he heard the SEC stuck with 85 players, Drinkwitz said coaches weren’t in the “high-level” conversations. From a football standpoint, though, he pushed back on the move.
“I’ll be honest. There’s a lot of times where the head coaches aren’t allowed into those – those are high-level meetings that they don’t necessarily want our opinions in,” Drinkwitz said. “I’m sure there’s real reasons for it.
“There’s probably holistic reasoning for it. But if it’s just decisions made strictly about football and about the competitive excellence that the SEC needs to have, I’m not sure it’s the right decision.”
Category: General Sports
