Are they back in the CFP hunt?

After its College Football Playoff hopes took a huge hit with a humiliating loss at Texas A&M on Oct. 5, Missouri bounced back with a win of its own on Saturday. While beating UMass 45-3 doesn’t move the needle at all, it does tell me that Missouri isn’t just going to collapse and die after the Aggies completely embarrassed them two weeks ago.

They weren’t going to win twice for Texas A&M, and that shows a refined sense of focus for a Missouri team that may have had a big head in the last two years or so. Elijah Drinkwitz was everyone’s second favorite coach. He was the goofy Alpha Nerd, wearing a visor, playing air guitar and being super excited about everything. Drinkwitz isn’t for everyone, but he’s good for Mizzou and good for college football. They must be good.

But as for whether the Tigers are back in the College Football Playoff hunt? I guess so; I’m not going to pick them up, but if the Tigers win out, they’ll definitely be in the playoffs at 11-1 (7-1 in the bumpy SEC). Unfortunately, with how weak their remaining schedule is, their margin for error is all but gone and they can’t afford to lose to Alabama. They need to beat the Crimson Tide to secure at least one quality win.

At 10-2 (6-2), but with a win over Alabama, even that puts him dangerously close for the 2024 Mizzou Tigers.

Right now, I have the Tigers as a college football playoff bubble team, but on the wrong side. I had them in a group with Ole Miss and Oklahoma, teams whose bubbles are about to burst. They’re looking up the SEC playoff hierarchy at borderline teams like LSU, Texas A&M and Tennessee, but ahead of two fun teams that won’t make it like Arkansas and Vanderbilt.

Missouri was not one of my top four teams out of the College Football Playoff bracket this week. Admittedly, the Tigers weren’t even close to being in the mix to be my fourth away team. I felt most comfortable with Texas A&M, BYU, Tennessee and Indiana as the top four teams to beat them.

Overall, it would be silly to write off Mizzou entirely, but we don’t need to put a ton of stock into putting the Tigers in the group of teams that are serious playoff contenders. The good news is that they have a soft schedule ahead. Again, I need to see them win and more importantly beat Alabama in their quest to win 10 or more games. 11 wins gets them in, but 10 probably doesn’t.

Not being at least one of the top four teams away has to be seen as a sign of failure for this year’s team considering all the talent they had back in Columbia.