What is Missouri's most realistic path to the Playoff after heartbreaker against Vanderbilt?

It's starting to get late early for fans in Columbia, Missouri. Their Tigers lost a tight game to No. 10 Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday, dropping the No. 15 team in the country to 6-2 with just four games left to play in the 2025-26 season.

Missouri came less than a yard short of tying Saturday's contest at 17 when its Hail Mary attempt was miraculously caught on the half-yard line as time expired.

It was a fittingly brutal end to a rough afternoon, one that saw starting quarterback Beau Pribula leave with what's already been labeled a season-ending ankle injury. True freshman Matt Zollers did acquit himself pretty well, all things considered, but it wasn't quite enough against Diego Pavia and a swarming Vanderbilt defense.

Things won't get any easier, either, as No. 3 Texas A&M comes to town in two weeks after Missouri's bye. Tigers fans now wonder, does their team have a shred of hope to make the College Football Playoff? The answer isn't as simple as yes or no.

What is Missouri's path to the College Football Playoff?

Missouri will play two ranked opponents over their next four games with no room for error. A three-loss SEC team has a thin yet not impossible chance of making the CFP.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz's biggest problem is going to be playing the rest of the season without Pribula, who left the Vanderbilt game in the fourth quarter with an air cast on his left leg.

The Tigers' very next contest will be against No. 3 Texas A&M at home and pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the year without Pribula is a tough ask. A loss on Nov. 8 will just about wrap things up for Missouri regarding the CFP.

But, for the sake of argument, let's say Missouri does beat Texas A&M. That's a heck of a resume booster and puts the Tigers right back in the at-large bid conversation.

Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Arkansas would follow and the same standard would apply: They're all must wins. There's just so much parity in the SEC that there will likely be at least three two-loss teams in the conference. A common opponent tie breaker will be crucial if the Tigers are going to sneak in to the 12-team bracket.

So, there's still hope for Missouri but there's just no room for error down the stretch, especially with the level of competition remaining.