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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� In the Southeastern Conference, there are enforcers. Imposers to weed out perceived posers. Those who punch down to stop upstarts, who pare off the threat of parity.

Even in the NIL age, bootheels are ready to grind upon bootstrappers.

Missouri keeps meeting them. Keeps losing to them. Keeps breaking down instead of breaking through.

It doesn鈥檛 need to be this way, the Tigers think. It could be different 鈥� it could have been different 鈥� the Tigers believe.

No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24. A win for the Crimson Tide, a win for the ruling class, a win for the status quo.

鈥淒isappointing,鈥� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz called this latest rebuke, 鈥渂ecause we had an opportunity.鈥�

Bama looked beatable. Like a team that left the window open and the key in the lock.

Mizzou tripped going up the driveway.

Was it the second interception that doomed Missouri? The inability to convert on third down? The silky web of throws woven by the Heisman contender quarterback playing for the other team?

Yes, sure. But it wasn鈥檛 just one thing. Against the pride of the college football conglomerate, MU nearly overcame a conglomeration of pitfalls.

The Tigers scored first, a beauty of a scripted drive. Five runs, two of them explosive, setting up a play-action pass that went for six on play No. 6. The Crimson Tide answered on their first drive, with quarterback Ty Simpson slicing and dicing to splice together an effective response.

(Two costly penalties by Missouri defensive end Zion Young 鈥� first an unsportsmanlike conduct call, then an offside offense 鈥� helped Bama, too.)

Mizzou fell behind by seven points, then 10. The Tide dropped what should鈥檝e been Pribula鈥檚 first interception of the day and couldn鈥檛 secure the ball when he put it on the ground on a third-down scramble.

Damon Wilson II, the Tigers鈥� most productive defensive end, stymied an Alabama drive to stop the bleeding. Just before halftime, Robert Meyer delivered a field goal to get the black and gold back within one score, down 17-10.

Right after the break, MU got the break it needed. Simpson fumbled while taking a sack, and Wilson recovered the ball on the Alabama 19-yard line.

The equalizer 鈥� Pribula ran the ball in a few plays later 鈥� wasn鈥檛 free, but it was heavily discounted. Not that Missouri would be above that sort of thing.

Alabama settled for a field goal after a nine-minute drive to retake the lead. Pribula, eyeing his leading receiver, threw a pick. Kevin Coleman Jr. ran straight up the seam. His quarterback threw like Coleman was going to turn left, and the Crimson Tide scooped it up.

鈥淲e just had too many mistakes in critical situations to win,鈥� Drinkwitz said.

It got more agonizing from there.

The Tide missed a field goal after the turnover, keeping hope alive on Faurot Field inside Memorial Stadium.

Wagering that hope against conventional thinking, Mizzou ran a fake punt on fourth down. Jamal Roberts came up 1 yard short.

Armed with the ball, Alabama went for it on two fourth downs. Needing 8 yards on the first one, it got 25. Needing 2 yards to score on the second, it got an uncovered running back.

The Crimson Tide finished 6 for 15 on third down and 3 for 3 on fourth. The Tigers went 1 for 10 on third down and 2 for 3 on fourth.

鈥淚 felt like we were three and out too much,鈥� Pribula said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 on the field that much and let them control the ball too much.鈥�

Alabama enjoyed 38:33 with the ball to just 21:27 for Missouri.

Yet there was still time for the Tigers to work with late in the fourth quarter.

Down 27-17, Mizzou covered 75 yards in 99 seconds to score a touchdown 鈥� freshman wideout Donovan Olugbode鈥檚 first career receiving TD.

The ensuing onside kick didn鈥檛 work, but the defense did. Ball back to the Tigers, with 85 seconds to go, trailing 27-24.

Pribula threw incomplete, then short, then incomplete again. On fourth down, with the game on the line, he found Olugbode again to move the chains. Hope springs eternal, doesn鈥檛 it?

He missed another throw on first down. Same thing on second. On third down, Pribula threw another interception 鈥� his second of the game and fifth in the last four games 鈥� missing Olugbode up the seam.

鈥淢y first read in the progression was a seam, which was the route that I threw,鈥� Pribula said. 鈥淭hought there was a window there. Might鈥檝e been too early to it, throw might鈥檝e been a little high, or both. Just thought I had a window there to (Olugbode).鈥�

The Alabama defensive back kneeled after coming down with the pick. Simpson kneeled the ball one more time to end the game.

The pecking order remained impeccable.

鈥淗eartbreak and disappointment,鈥� as Drinkwitz described it, settled over the Missouri locker room.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 come here to play them close,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e came here to win. I鈥檓 not good with playing them close. Bullcrap. Came here to win. We didn鈥檛 get it done. So we鈥檙e going to be disappointed.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 for a lack of opportunity at any stage of the game. It wasn鈥檛 for a lack of talent. Both teams had playmakers and playmaker-worthy moments.

Alabama had the constitution of a contender. Mizzou was short of that 鈥� by three points, one turnover, one tier of SEC programs.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e hurting in that locker room right now because they believe,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淭hey believed we could do it.鈥�