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What do Eli Drinkwitz, Bob Stoops and Jim Mora have in common?

All three came to mind after the Missouri football team beat Oklahoma in a wild one Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Drinkwitz, who keeps receipts more diligently than the strictest tax filer, was ready to remind former Sooners coach Stoops about some comments the Oklahoma legend had made as his old team transitioned into the SEC.

鈥淭his will be real disappointing to Bob Stoops,鈥� Drinkwitz said after the thrilling win. 鈥淏ut OU doesn鈥檛 always whip Missouri鈥檚 (expletive) anymore.鈥�

鈥淪omeone showed it to me yesterday, and I started laughing,鈥� Stoops told an Oklahoma radio station Monday. 鈥淚鈥檝e been retired eight years, and I鈥檓 still prominent on people鈥檚 mind.鈥�

Well, Bob, you did write a check Sooners coach Brent Venables and his grounded OU offense could not cash. You almost always beat the Tigers, but the SEC Sooners are 0-1 against them now and 0-1 against every conference member not named Auburn. How long can Venables last? One wonders if Stoops wonders.

鈥淜eep following me on Twitter, I guess,鈥� Stoops added in his Oklahoma radio interview. 鈥淵ou know what Toby (Keith) always said. Haters even make you money.鈥�

Now that last part, Drinkwitz would absolutely agree with. It explains why he also he also used his post-win spotlight to stump for College Football Playoff talk to stop excluding his Tigers as a potential candidate.

鈥淭his keeps us in the playoff hunt,鈥� Drinkwitz said during his TV hit from Faurot Field. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 right, I said it: the playoff hunt.鈥�

Cue the Mora-inspired responses on social media. Playoffs? Playoffs?!

It鈥檚 a real reach. Mizzou鈥檚 lopsided losses at Texas A&M and Alabama will be very hard for College Football Playoff shapers to forget, even as the field expands to 12 teams this season. Understandably so. And only one of those no-show performances (Alabama) can be pinned on an in-game departure of injured starting quarterback Brady Cook.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey can beat the drum for more SEC teams in the bracket than the Big Ten or any other league, but that doesn鈥檛 mean he鈥檚 going to get half of the 12-team field. Let鈥檚 tell it like it is: Considering they have the same number of losses or fewer and have not suffered multiple blowout defeats, the following SEC teams have looked more playoff-caliber than Mizzou: No. 3 Texas (8-1), No. 6 Tennessee (8-1), No. 9 Alabama (7-2), No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2), No. 11 Georgia (7-2) and No. 15 Texas A&M (7-2).

So no, Mizzou is not in the CFP if the season ends today.

But the season doesn鈥檛 end today, does it?

Texas and Texas A&M still have to meet. Tennessee still travels to Georgia and suddenly respectable Vanderbilt, where Alabama lost earlier this season. It鈥檚 still too early to assume the season is going to go chalk through the finish line. Especially when this season has been so unpredictable.

If Mizzou loses at South Carolina this weekend, the conversation Drinkwitz wants to revive ends with a thud. Win there, though, and it could get a little more life moving forward. Win out against South Carolina, Mississippi State and Arkansas, and the Tigers could claw their way back to the proverbial CFP bubble.

They don鈥檛 have another chance for a needle-moving win. They do have a chance to finish strong.

Combine that with some needle-moving losses that could still occur around the SEC, and you just never know. What felt impossible when Tigers backup quarterback Drew Pyne looked totally overwhelmed against Auburn and Alabama seems a little less impossible after he helped his team find a way to win against a Sooners defense that is as respectable as OU鈥檚 offense is bad.

Still, the latest numbers from The Athletic assign Mizzou a less than 1% chance of making the playoff. ESPN鈥檚 playoff predictor says there鈥檚 an 8% chance. Drinkwitz knows the numbers are working against him. He also knows a head coach must know when to pull a team back and when to push it forward.

When your team is getting all of the love, it鈥檚 your job to pump brakes. Beware the rat poison, Nick Saban always warned Alabama. When your team is viewed as fading, though, it鈥檚 your job to remind folks it still exists, especially after a resilient performance provides fresh proof.

The Tigers are 7-2, not grasping for barely there bowl eligibility. They could still secure a 10- or even 11-win season, considering their final three opponents are a combined 7-12 in league play and some sort of bowl game has been secured. Along with Tennessee, Mizzou is among the only two league teams on Monday with six wins and no losses at home this season. Pyne has some much-needed confidence moving forward. Who knows, maybe Cook can return before it鈥檚 too late.

So no, I鈥檓 not going to pile on Drinkwitz for talking CFP out loud. He didn鈥檛 say the Tigers are in. He said don鈥檛 forget they鈥檙e in the fight. One thing about Drinkwitz鈥檚 Tigers, and they showed it again Saturday night against Oklahoma, is that if it鈥檚 close, they have a puncher鈥檚 chance.

Perhaps most importantly to finishing strong, Drinkwitz can now turn the scoffing about Mizzou鈥檚 playoff credentials into fresh fuel for his players. He must have needed a refilled tank after burning his Stoops receipt.