Oct
21
2020
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
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
15
2020
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
15
2020
I have already spoken about the chaos in the Big 12 just about every week so far. Things are not looking good for the conference, and Oklahoma’s victory over Texas doesn’t help. Oklahoma State is still undefeated, and there’s a decent chance that either Iowa State or Kansas State finishes with one loss. The conference …
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
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
16
2020
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 …
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
11
2020
Give author @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. QUESTION: Is this the best national title game QB matchup ever? Is Joe Burrow of LSU versus Trevor Lawrence of Clemson the best quarterback matchup in a college football national championship game? Good question. Let’s dive into some of the details and …
Dec
31
2019
Give author @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. QUESTION: What does Clemson need to do to beat LSU? The Clemson Tigers will have to do many different things to beat the LSU Tigers in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Clemson’s receivers need to get healthy after a …
Dec
29
2019
Give author @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. Harry Houdini is known as the original (or one of the original) escape artist stunt performers, who gave rise to David Copperfield and David Blaine in subsequent decades. To “pull a Houdini” is a term which might not be instantly recognizable to …
Dec
22
2019
Give author @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. QUESTION: Are Dabo Swinney’s claims of disrespect toward Clemson real? Whenever Dabo Swinney or Nick Saban — the two coaches who have ruled over college football the past five years — open their mouths and say anything which carries the scent of …
Sep
12
2019
Following Week 2 is way too early to make grand pronouncements about the College Football Playoff. It’s a long season (yet somehow always too short), and just about anything can happen. Ohio State Buckeye fans still love to mock Clay Travis for declaring the Big Ten “out of the Playoff” after Week 2 in 2014, …
Aug
22
2019
It’s weird to talk about the ACC’s Playoff contenders this year. Mostly because there is one team that is so far out ahead of the league that it’s considered a Playoff near-lock, something we have yet to see in the CFP era. Different betting markets have the line on Clemson reaching the CFP anywhere from …