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 …
Nov
19
2020
This week has presented me with some interesting dilemmas, some that are unique even for this year. Let’s look at Maryland as a case study. The Maryland Terrapins are 2-1 with a blowout loss to Northwestern. Their only potential path to the Playoff remaining is winning the Big Ten Championship Game, with a win over …
Nov
18
2020
Not much changed this week in the College Football Playoff race because not too many games were played, especially among the top contenders. Alabama, Ohio State, and Texas A&M all had games canceled due to COVID-19. (It seems noteworthy, at least, that all three were canceled because of outbreaks among their opponents, not on their …
Nov
09
2020
Since early in the year, it’s been obvious that there would likely be one of the four College Football Playoff bids up for grabs. The SEC is almost certainly getting a bid. The ACC is almost certainly getting a bid–we had assumed that one would be Clemson, but now Notre Dame has the inside track. …
Oct
28
2020
This week saw a few more eliminations than I expected, particularly because the Big 12 is rapidly trending towards no teams remaining. Oklahoma State is still undefeated, and the Cowboys will make the Playoff if that keeps up, but outside of Stillwater the Big 12’s hopes are in trouble. The conference’s only other one-loss team …
Oct
28
2020
I was ready to write this post on Sunday, looking at the action from the SEC and Big 12. And, of course, the return of the Big Ten. Ohio State looked like a potential Playoff contender. Wisconsin, Michigan, and maybe Northwestern looked like potential contenders. And Cincinnati and BYU both made pushes for potential for …
Oct
19
2020
The Big Ten hasn’t started to play yet. Looking at how the season has gone so far in each of the Power 5 conferences that have begun play already, maybe the Big Ten should be happy about that. There is one word that can describe the football season so far for each conference. Big 12: …
Oct
05
2020
The Big 12 was the first conference to really jump into play, and things have not worked out so well for the conference. Aside from a few canceled games on the COVID front, the Big 12 is seeing chaos and misfortune about. It started early, with nonconference losses to Sun Belt teams. That followed with …
Sep
27
2020
It was obvious when they started playing two weeks ago that there were potential pitfalls for the Big 12. With a disastrous Week 1 that saw bad losses from three teams in the conference, plus a near-loss by Texas Tech to a bad FCS team, the conference could little afford upsets during the season–especially if …
Sep
27
2020
As I mentioned last week, this is a strange year for the Eliminator. It’s a strange year for everything, sure, but the Eliminator is no exception. Usually we see plenty of eliminations each week at this point in the season since Group of 5 teams are playing their nonconference games. This year, though, most Power …
Sep
23
2020
Eliminating Power Five teams early in the season is always a question for me. Sure, it’s a mostly irrelevant question–we’re usually pretty sure which P5 teams won’t be winning out. Still, my principle here at the Eliminator remains the same: losses will come when they come, and I have no need to assume them. I …
Sep
21
2020
One good thing about having a season where no one knows what will happen and nothing is set in stone is that, well, nothing is set in stone. Over the first two full weeks (plus a slightly expanded “Week 0”) of the college football season, more than a dozen games have been postponed or canceled, …
Sep
14
2020
First of all, I would like to thank the great people here at All Sports Discussion for hosting my column for the time being. 2020 is a crazy time for lots of people, including writers. While I am currently unable to write at my usual outlets, I am more than happy to discuss everything CFP-related …
Jan
31
2015
When the ACC added Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville it was assumed that the conference would easily reclaim its title of “Best Basketball Conference” but that hasn’t necessarily been the case. Yes, the ACC is one of the strongest conferences in the country. Four teams currently ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll, an …