Nov
13
2022
It’s somewhat of a strange year for the College Football Playoff picture. Everyone assumes that Georgia won’t lose–at least not before the SEC Championship Game and the Bulldogs certainly look like it. Meanwhile, Ohio State and Michigan are looking at locking up a bid for the winner of The Game as long as both enter …
Nov
06
2022
Last week, I spoke about how a Notre Dame upset of Clemson could spell big trouble for the ACC. Well, Notre Dame delivered, and how. Unfortunately for the ACC, that means both Clemson and North Carolina are well behind the eight-ball in terms of having a CFP-worthy resume. Is there some good news here? Actually, …
Dec
05
2021
The games are down, and there are less than 12 hours of waiting for who the selection committee decides to put in the Playoff. We know three of them for sure: Alabama, Michigan, and Cincinnati have locked up their spots in the Playoff. Who will the fourth be? Conventional wisdom is that it will be …
Nov
28
2021
With one week left in the season, we still have nine teams left in Playoff contention. Does that number sound high to you? It shouldn’t. Let’s explain why. First of all, let’s look at the teams: Georgia, Cincinnati, Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Baylor, and Oregon. Do you think Ohio State and …
Nov
22
2021
This has, quite frankly, been the most chaotic season in the CFP’s eight-year history. Perhaps we should have expected it. After all, so many teams are more experienced, given the extra year of eligibility due to COVID. Even so, this year has been wild. Part of the wildness, however, has been the strength at the …
Nov
14
2021
We’ve been waiting seven years for this, but we are finally ready to discuss a Group of 5 school as a serious Playoff contender. And by “serious contender” I don’t just mean that a team has a chance. By “serious contender,” I mean that the Cincinnati Bearcats have the inside track to one of the …
Nov
07
2021
This week saw a ton of upsets. Eight of the CFP selection committee’s Top 25 teams lost this week, including two of the Top 10. Of the 17 teams we had yet to eliminate last week, four lost. And none of those four teams are the sole elimination this week. I touched on this a …
Oct
31
2021
The College Football Playoff Eliminator is down to just 17 teams still in potential Playoff contention. Of those 17, six are not actually seriously in the picture. This means, that with five weeks left in the regular season (including the conference championship games), there are only 11 teams truly in contention. That’s a very low …
Oct
24
2021
With only three teams eliminated this week, it gives us space to discuss a problematic topic for the ACC: The Pitt Panthers. Pitt is quickly becoming a strong team overall. Advanced metrics like ESPN’s FPI love the Panthers. Pitt is rising in the major polls, and should approach the Top 10 with a few more …
Oct
17
2021
Last week, I mentioned how I kept Texas A&M alive until they were clearly eliminated. After all, they had Alabama up next, and that would solve things either way. The same principle applied to Purdue this week. Once again, the Boilermakers stayed alive until they picked up a third loss or until the season passed …
Oct
03
2021
Could 2021 end up as a relatively chalk-like football season? Sure. But it’s definitely not looking like it will. So what does that mean for the Eliminator? Well, for starters, it means that we’re slowing down with eliminations of two-loss Power 4 teams. Yes, I say Power 4, because the Pac 12 isn’t quite in …
Sep
26
2021
Is it dishonest to use Clemson in the title if I’m not actually eliminating them this week? I don’t think so. Clemson, after all, will be the focus of our discussion. As I’ll look at in more detail in the charts, there are a whole bunch of two-loss Power 5 teams I’m not eliminating yet. …
Sep
19
2021
Our Eliminator is back in Week 3. We’re running out of Group of 5 teams already, and the Pac 12 is looking to join. Last week, the Pac 12 was 12-12 in nonconference play. That’s bad. This week, it got even worse. The conference went 5-5, including the Pac 12 South going 0-5. The conference …
Sep
12
2021
Our Eliminator is back in Week 2, whittling down the smaller-conference teams, and dealing with a Pac 12 on the brink of collapse. The Pac 12 has gone a staggering 12-12 in nonconference play so far. For a conference that begins behind the eight-ball due to structural disadvantages in scheduling, that’s an unacceptable number of …
Nov
23
2020
One of the hallmarks of my Eliminator series is that I never want to un-eliminate a team. Some years, that leads to waiting a few extra weeks to eliminate questionable teams. This year, though, it’s causing a serious problem. I have 24 teams still alive, and barring some surprising upsets, there’s no real path to …