Missouri's route to bowl eligibility lessened several times over the course of the last month.
Possibly the biggest, and only one of a few ways left, to give itself options would be to pull an upset on Saturday against No. 18 Texas A&M, the Tigers' former Big 12 Conference rivals coming off its own upset of then-No. 1 Alabama.
To start the second half of its schedule with only Southeastern Conference teams left on its slate, Missouri was sluggish out of the gate and trailed by three touchdowns within the game's first 13 minutes and couldn't get back within striking distance of the Aggies.