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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� After all the ups and downs of Missouri鈥檚 Saturday showdown with Alabama, from a breezy touchdown drive to open the game to a brutal interception to end it, what changed in the big picture for the Tigers?

As far as this season is concerned, not much.

That鈥檚 the root cause for some of the angst stemming from Mizzou鈥檚 27-24 loss to the Crimson Tide: There was an undeniable opportunity to secure the kind of program-defining win that eludes coach Eli Drinkwitz in his sixth season with the school.

But the lack of change can also be a cautious source of optimism.

No. 16 Missouri (5-1, 1-1) is very much alive as far as securing a spot in the College Football Playoff. Conventional wisdom, historical precedent and predictive analytics all support that notion.

鈥淲e lost,鈥� Drinkwitz said after Saturday鈥檚 defeat, 鈥渂ut all is not lost. I mean, that鈥檚 the reality of college football.鈥�

The new reality of college football, that is, where multiple-loss teams can and do make the CFP 鈥� particularly coming out of the Southeastern Conference.

It helped MU鈥檚 stock that it lost to Alabama in such close fashion.

Algorithms punished the Tigers very little for the result. (Pollsters were also gentle, dropping Missouri only two spots to No. 16.)

Mizzou registered a 72% postgame win expectancy according to ESPN鈥檚 SP+ metric, which is a wordy way of saying that teams with the kind of stats the Tigers had against Bama would usually win. That computerized consolation prize meant MU remained ranked eighth in the nation in SP+.

In ESPN鈥檚 Football Power Index, Missouri actually moved up three spots, passing Vanderbilt, Michigan and Louisiana State. Its season-long win projection, according to FPI, ticked downward only slightly to 8.4 wins.

But getting to eight or even nine wins is not the target for this Mizzou team, a group led by high-profile transfer portal additions whom Drinkwitz labeled his most talented yet.

It鈥檚 the playoff the Tigers are eyeing.

Their chances of getting there did take a hit with the loss to Bama. ESPN dropped MU鈥檚 playoff chances from 33.4% to 21.4%.

That gives Mizzou the 10th-best playoff chances among SEC teams, which is the lowest among the league鈥檚 programs that are still in the mix for a playoff spot. (Six have been more or less eliminated after picking up three losses.)

Three of the other nine SEC playoff contenders are on MU鈥檚 schedule: Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Those games now become far more important for the Tigers.

They can still take another loss and have a playoff-caliber resume: 10-2 will very, very likely be enough for SEC teams to make it in, given the strength of the conference.

Even after a relatively lackluster nonconference slate, Missouri has the 23rd-strongest resume in college football right now. Its remaining schedule is ranked as the 13th-toughest, so the final result shouldn鈥檛 have an issue stacking up with other programs鈥� tallies.

Before that can start to matter, though, the Tigers will need to start winning their way through six remaining SEC games 鈥� four of which are on the road.

That starts this weekend against an Auburn team that will be frustrated and desperate after an 0-3 start to its SEC slate. Though Mizzou has opened as a road underdog for that game, it needs to be a win to stay on pace for a spot in the playoff. Losing at Jordan-Hare Stadium would erase MU鈥檚 margin for error and just about sink playoff talk.

If Missouri can make it out of Auburn, it has two very winnable games left against Mississippi State and Arkansas, then the playoff-caliber games against Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

It sounds challenging. It will be.

The encouraging precedent for the Tigers is what they managed in 2023, when they finished the regular season ninth in the CFP Selection Committee鈥檚 rankings, which would鈥檝e been good for a spot in the 12-team playoff had it started a year earlier.

In 2023, Mizzou started the season 5-0 with a perfect showing in its nonconference games and a solid if unspectacular win in its SEC opener. It then hosted Louisiana State and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels in Week 6, losing a back-and-forth game in part due to a late interception.

Sounds a bit like the first half of Missouri鈥檚 2025 season, no?

Mizzou showed its grit in 2023 by recovering from the LSU loss to beat a ranked Kentucky team on the road. Maybe Auburn under the lights this year could be the equivalent.

The 2023 Tigers lost at Georgia but beat South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas to finish 10-2. The key to beating the Vols and Gators, in particular, was improvement from what MU was earlier in the season.

So now, the course forward for Mizzou will be determined by whether it can follow the path of that 鈥�23 squad that showed how to get to 10-2 at Missouri.

鈥淲e went toe to toe with (Alabama),鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淎 lot of things we can get better at. Didn鈥檛 have our 鈥楢鈥� game today. Got to go back and find it.鈥�