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
10
2021
Last week, I mentioned a great example of my methodology here. I never assume a team will lose a game. In fact, when I’m deciding whether to eliminate a team, I always look at what the resume could be if the team wins out. If a team runs the table and still doesn’t have a …
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 …
Sep
07
2021
Welcome to the first edition of this year’s CFP Eliminator. I would like to once again thank my friends here at All Sports Discussion for hosting it. The goal is simple: We are going to count down every single FBS team that remains in contention for a College Football Playoff bid. We start with all …
Dec
19
2020
It seems fitting that 2020 will leave us with the most chaotic Selection Sunday of the CFP era. Twice in the CFP era, we’ve had a three-team “bubble” coming out of Conference Championship weekend. In 2014, the fourth spot could have gone to any one of Ohio State, Baylor, or TCU. In 2017, Alabama, Ohio …
Dec
14
2020
With one week remaining in the college football season, we count 11 teams still alive in the College Football Playoff race. Of course, of those 11 teams, some are in far stronger position than others. This week’s CFP Implications will be very simple: We will run down the 11 teams and what they each need …
Dec
13
2020
As we approach the final weekend of the college football season, we have 11 teams still in the College Football Playoff race. Of those 11, one–Alabama–has likely locked up a Playoff berth already. No matter what happens–barring something insane like a 35-point loss to Florida this weekend–the Crimson Tide will be in the Playoff. Who …
Dec
07
2020
As discussed in CFP Implications this week, there are three basic scenarios for the College Football Playoff right now. If Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State win out, then there are only a few teams in real contention for that fourth spot. If Clemson or Florida wins out, all of the spots are locked up. …
Dec
01
2020
As I discussed in CFP Implications this week, we can start to pin down some scenarios. All of those scenarios right now assume that Alabama and Ohio State win out, and that Notre Dame wins out until at least the ACC Championship Game. If Clemson and Florida each win out, we could be looking at …
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 …