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 …
Tag Archive: CFP Eliminator
Nov
10
2020
Week 9 CFP Eliminator: The Pac 12 Conundrum
2020 has been a weird year for everyone, for lots of reasons. And it has certainly thrown the Eliminator for a loop. I’m sure, when Selection Sunday comes, it will provide a unique and odd set of circumstances for the selection committee also. This week, I want to discuss what to do with the Pac …
Nov
02
2020
Week 8 CFP Eliminator: LSU Defending Champions No More
Only once before in the history of the College Football Playoff have I ever eliminated the defending National Champions. In 2015, I eliminated the Ohio State Buckeyes after the final weekend of the season. Ohio State didn’t quite have the resume, and there were four clearly obvious Playoff picks that year. In every other season …
Oct
28
2020
Week 7 CFP Eliminator: Big 12 Falling
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
21
2020
Week 6 CFP Eliminator: ACC Teams Dropping
It’s not the ACC’s fault that eliminations in the conference are coming more rapidly than everywhere else. Most Big 12 teams are basically done for, but actual eliminations have been staved off by fortuitous splitting of losses plus a few COVID-related delayed games. The Big Ten and Pac 12 haven’t started playing yet. And numerous …
Oct
15
2020
Week 5 CFP Eliminator: Prepare for P5 Eliminations
I know I’m late on the Eliminator this week. In all honesty, it’s because I’ve had a crazy week. But I’m definitely happy to pretend I was waiting for Wednesday night’s game between Coastal Carolina and Louisiana. With the result of that game, by the way, the Sun Belt has been the second conference fully …
Oct
08
2020
Week 4 CFP Eliminator: So Many Variables
As I mentioned before, this is a strange year for the Eliminator. It’s a strange year for everything, sure, but the Eliminator is no exception. Group of 5 eliminations aren’t coming at their usual more steady pace (the Mountain West hasn’t even started playing), and the Power 5 conferences are starting in such different times …
Sep
27
2020
Week 3 CFP Eliminator: Slow Week, but Goodbye MAC
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
Week 2 CFP Eliminator: When to eliminate P5 teams
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
16
2020
Week 1 CFP Eliminator: We don’t even know what we don’t know
Welcome to the first edition of what will be the strangest year ever for my CFP Eliminator. I would like to once again thank my friends here at All Sports Discussion for hosting it this year. The goal is simple: We are going to count down every single FBS team that remains in contention for …