Missouri’s schedule could derail the Tigers’ hunt for the College Football Playoff after the loss at A&M

In College Station it was over almost immediately. During the best game of the weak slate of Week 6, the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies wiped the floor with the No. 9 Missouri Tigers. The fact that Texas A&M had nearly three points at home further demonstrated how much of a top-10 seed Missouri had to begin with. This game is entirely in the hands of head coach Eliah Drinkwitz.

Not only has the alpha nerd been stuffed into a locker, but his team competing in the College Football Playoff may no longer be either. While Texas A&M can come into the game at 10-2 (7-1) but split schedules between LSU and Texas, Missouri simply doesn’t have the schedule to come into the game at 10-2. Now it has to be 11:1. With Alabama coming up in a few weeks, Missouri’s chances of making the playoffs are in the single digits.

Here’s what Missouri’s remaining schedule looks like. Tell me if you think they’ll make the playoffs…

Missouri’s best win in the last five weeks was a win over Boston College. While the excitement of Alabama in Tuscaloosa just before Halloween could put them right back in the thick of things, I’m not sure Missouri has another marquee game on the schedule to boost its resume. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Arkansas have to play like top 25 teams until the end. However, not everyone will do this.

At 11:1 (7:1), Missouri will probably still get into the game, but they can’t expect a win over Alabama at the moment.

Coming into the year, Missouri had a record of about 9-3. I touted them as fringe contenders for the College Football Playoff, but I never bought into it. My thought was that the Tigers would no longer sneak up on anyone. More importantly, splitting divisions in SEC play would theoretically hurt a team like Missouri that has benefited from it in the long run. This year’s schedule was contrary…

Regardless, doesn’t that actually make things worse? Texas A&M has always been one of their few resume-boosting games, and the Tigers blew it. I don’t know if this loss is as bad as Ole Miss’ home loss to Kentucky, but no one in their right mind will have Missouri as one of their 12 teams next week, let alone one of their first teams eliminated. They will still remain in the ranking, but will fall back a lot.

Overall, I feel vindicated that Missouri has been exposed as a complete fraud. These are the types of games where Texas A&M typically doesn’t show up. Instead, they throttled the Tigers in a way no one expected. At this point, with what I’ve seen in Missouri, the Tigers project to be one of the softest 9-3 teams in the entire Power Four. They may end the year ranked, but not in the playoffs.

This game said a lot about Texas A&M, but perhaps even more negative things about Missouri.