Missouri’s short time in the SEC has been immensely fascinating and filled with drama, and this last year was no exception.

After the conference initially absorbed the program in 2012 and the team shocked everyone with a 12-win season in 2013, an intense debate emerged.

Was that a fluke season from a team that would find its level near the bottom of the SEC East? Or do outsiders have an irreverent lack of understanding for Missouri’s talent development and a Gary Pinkel process with a lot of similarities to Nick Saban’s at Alabama?

As it turns out, both sides of the argument were correct. Mizzou managed to win another SEC East title in 2014, adding an impressive Citrus Bowl win. Then the program suffered a bit of a collapse last season.

Pinkel’s tenure was far from spotless. But he accomplished some impressive things in Columbia, retiring with the respect of his players and the school’s all-time wins record.

For now, this is a team that must build toward cyclical competitiveness. Several aspects align for one or two high-water mark seasons before the program cycles back down for a few off years.

The next step for this program is to try to achieve long-term stability and to upgrade the facilities.

This is a program very much in flux as coach Barry Odom assumes control. Where it goes next is a mystery for now. But we can look at the recent past and try to judge the current health of the program on multiple levels.

Let’s take a look at the State of the Union, taking into account the last three years and expectations for 2016.

ON-FIELD PERFORMANCE

SEC standing: Tied for second in the conference

Grade: B+

We suspect that Mizzou’s on-field performance grade will look significantly worse once the three-year window includes 2016 rather than 2013.

But as it stands, the Tigers have won 28 games in three seasons — tied with Georgia for the most in the SEC East. In fact, from 2013-15, the program trails only the Crimson Tide inside the SEC, thanks to a canceled game against an FCS opponent that limited LSU to 27 wins — the same number that Auburn and Ole Miss mustered.

Missouri also has participated in two of the last three SEC Championship Games, the same number as Alabama.

Last year’s 5-7 season disappointed even the skeptics.

The receivers were green and inexperienced, but at least Maty Mauk and Russell Hansbrough returned behind one of the most veteran lines in the SEC. And the defense looked like one of the better units in the conference. All that amounted to a preseason ranking at the edge of the top 25 and set up a disheartening collapse, especially on offense.

A return to a bowl game and measurable improvement on offense would represent a modest turnaround and set up the team for a push at another impressive year in 2017.

RECRUITING

SEC standing: Near the bottom

2016 national rank: 51

Grade: C

There are ready-made excuses. In the Gary Pinkel era, this program always focused on finding overlooked players or players with great athletic upside and developing them. There are plenty of examples of Mizzou turning three-star talents into NFL draft picks in recent seasons.

In 2015, the team signed one of its best classes ever, ranking at No. 25 in the 247Sports Composite on the strength of five-star Terry Beckner Jr. from East St. Louis, an area that the team has mined at an increasing rate.

Most Mizzou fans and coaches will minimize the value of recruiting rankings. But the bottom line is that it’s going to be a long time before the Tigers win back-to-back division titles without upgrading the baseline talent on the roster. That’s even if coach Barry Odom can identify and develop as well as Pinkel did.

With Georgia, Florida and Tennessee apparently re-establishing the traditional power trio in the East Division, surprise championship game participants are not going to emerge as easily.

Missouri never is going to compete with programs like Alabama and LSU in recruiting. But even SEC East rivals South Carolina and Kentucky combined to sign eight four-star players in the 2016 class compared to just one for Missouri — JUCO running back Natereace Strong.

Classes ranked in the 40s and 50s shouldn’t be acceptable going forward. We’ll soon see if Odom can generate some momentum on this front.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

SEC standing: One of the best in the conference

Grade: A

In 2015, most would’ve argued that Missouri was the best team in the conference in terms of developing its players.

That was before the ’15 season. Offensive linemen like Evan Boehm and Connor McGovern regressed, none of the young receivers and backup running backs developed enough to make a major impact and quarterback Drew Lock looked every bit like a true freshman.

Still, the team’s defense — especially the line — lost a heck of a lot of talent and may have managed to get even better. Charles Harris, Walter Brady and Kentrell Brothers developed into some of the best defensive players in the SEC. Odom gets some credit for the continued strength on that side of the ball.

For some time now, player development has been the No. 1 asset in the Missouri football program. The coaches and players delightedly referred to the process of converting athleticism to on-field production as “Mizzou Made.” Whatever internal process they held for evaluating recruits, identifying specific attributes and then converting potential to reality really worked.

Can Odom retain that as a strength?

FACILITIES

SEC standing: Bottom third

Grade: C-

At one point, Pinkel had convinced then-athletic director Mike Alden to fast-track a new football-only complex. The athletic director even stated publicly that construction could begin as soon as 2016 and finished as soon as 2018.

Both of those men since have stepped down. The Missouri athletic department also experienced a major downturn in donations, which some attribute to the disappointing season and controversial social justice boycott before the BYU game.

The Columbia Tribune recently reported that the school now is considering four project options and does not have any sort of timeline established for updating its facilities. It’s possible that the athletic department eventually settles on a new plan that would involve building new facilities to be used by multiple sports.

“This football facility is a priority,” Rhoades said, according to the Columbia Tribune. “We’re hoping early spring we have drawings and a vision to show people, and then we’ll have a better idea. As we get out and show that to donors and hopefully get people excited and interested in investing in it, I think that’s when we’ll really know if we can keep our timeline or if it’s going to take a little longer to raise the necessary funds.”

The longer it takes to update those facilities, the more difficult it is going to be for Missouri to compete with other SEC programs on the recruiting trail.

COACHING

SEC standing: Unknown

Grade: Incomplete

The Pinkel era represented unheard-of stability. It was common for assistant coaches to remain on staff for a decade or more. Even two changes in the same year equated to major turnover relative to the norm.

Andy Hill and Cornell Ford remain as long-time assistants. But the 2016 coaching staff marks the beginning of the Odom era.

Defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross and especially offensive coordinator Josh Heupel are under tremendous pressure for assistants who just got hired to a new staff.

Less than two years removed from back-to-back SEC division titles, the Mizzou program is in worse shape than the recent success would suggest. Odom did not inherit an ideal situation, and it may take another 18 months before the team shows a lot of tangible on-field progress.

Everyone assumed that Odom would one day get an opportunity to run a big-time program, even if that opportunity came sooner rather than later. We’ll all have to wait and see how he does, because this is new territory for him and territory that Mizzou hasn’t seen since 2001, Pinkel’s first season.