Eli Drinkwitz doesn’t care about College GameDay showing up in Nashville.
The Missouri coach made that clear this week when asked if the show’s presence at Vanderbilt would amplify the stage or change his team’s preparation for Saturday’s matchup. College GameDay is covering a Mizzou game for the first time in 11 years. The show has only featured the Tigers six times in program history.
“Is it in First Bank Stadium?” Drinkwitz asked.
No.
“Well, it doesn’t affect anything for us,” he continued. “We’re the road team. We’ll show up, we’ll go to the visitors’ locker room, we’ll walk out on the field, and play the game. I don’t — whatever else they got for their fans there is up to them, but it doesn’t affect us. I don’t even think they want to talk to us.”
Safe to say Mizzou will be playing the disrespect card this week vs. Vandy
Eli Drinkwitz asked about GameDay in Nashville:
“Doesn’t affect us.
“I don’t think they want to talk to us.” pic.twitter.com/2tsVqCngHk
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 21, 2025
On Tuesday, during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference, Drinkwitz praised Clark Lea for what Vanderbilt has done this season. The Commodores are 6-1 and bowl eligible in consecutive years for the first time since 2013. GameDay being hosted there is “recognition of Clark and Diego [Pavia], which they rightfully earned and deserve,” Drinkwitz said.
Reporter Steve Moulton pointed out that GameDay is also in Nashville because Missouri is 5-1 and ranked No. 15.
“Nah, we’re just the sideshow that gets to show up,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s all about them.”
On the weekly SEC teleconference, the great @iamstevemoulton informed Eli Drinkwitz that GameDay is also in Nashville to feature the Missouri Tigers after the great start to the season.
Drink’s response:
“We are just the sideshow… It’s all about (Vanderbilt).” https://t.co/Z3Bwww1ugd
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 22, 2025
That’s where Drinkwitz’s logic falls apart.
Missouri has won 27 of its last 33 games dating back to 2023. The Tigers are undefeated in SEC play this season. Saturday is a top-15 matchup between two teams with legitimate playoff paths. This isn’t Missouri tagging along to Vanderbilt’s moment. It’s two programs that have earned national attention meeting in a game that matters.
Drinkwitz is right that GameDay being in Nashville doesn’t change Missouri’s preparation or routine as the road team. But claiming the show doesn’t want to talk to them while simultaneously downplaying his team as “the sideshow” reads like manufactured bulletin board material. College GameDay doesn’t travel somewhere to ignore half the story.
Missouri is 3-3 in games where College GameDay is present. The last appearance came at South Carolina in 2014, when the Tigers won 21-20. Saturday marks their seventh time being featured on the show.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.