By Justin Parmer
Regular Season Elimination Method
Power-five Method
- Losing two games
- Losing to a group-of-five school
- Losing to an FCS school or lower
- Losing a game by 30 or more points.
Locked in tight, don’t let the upsets bite (1)
LSU
They said Texas was back … those rumors were greatly exaggerated. They said Florida was one of the best teams in the country; after all, Florida just came off a victory against Auburn. LSU won by two possessions, but they can’t beat two top 10 opponents in three weeks. Auburn just beat Arkansas by 40; one, its Arkansas, the only SEC team that’s goanna lose to this pathetic excuses of a football team is Missouri on the road, and two, LSU told everyone to hold their Les Miles grass shakes. Auburn was lucky to be within three at game’s end. Fine, they beat three teams in the top 10 when they played, but there is no way Saban and crew are going to lose to LSU in Tuscaloosa. Oh, how shocked we were. The last time a Nick Saban defense allowed 33 or more points in the first half of any game was October 16, 1999 when Michigan State lost 52-28 to Purdue. Make that four wins against top 10 opponents. Game, set, match, Tigers.
The eliminator will hear no other arguments; LSU is the best team in the country, no questions asked. To run through that gauntlet without a scratch on their resume either signifies how good LSU truly is, or the downfall of the SEC’s domination in the college football landscape. LSU timed their matchups perfectly, executed perfectly and is all but guaranteed a seat in the final four. Yeah, the eliminator said it.
Even losing in the SEC Championship game isn’t going to be enough to derail LSU from making the college football playoffs at this point. With Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M as their final three games at the end of the season, the Tigers have a 77% chance to win out; the best chance amongst the remaining 11 teams on this list. Unless a miracle happens, the Tigers will be dancing in Atlanta.
Teams remaining safe (4)
Baylor
The eliminator can’t tell if the Bears are good or extremely luckily. First, they only beat Rice by eight, then they barely escaped ISU, scrapped by Texas Tech and now a game that should have been won by the Horn Frogs is going to Baylor in Triple Overtime. For all of the times they should have fallen, they are still standing with three weeks left on the year. Is this revenge for 2014?
If the Bears are going to redeem their miracle 2014 campaign, Saturday’s prime time matchup in Waco will be the indicator of how good the Bears really are. If the Bears manage to beat the Sooners, the Bears will head into conference championship week with a shot at the Big 12 If the Bears fall by less than 30 points, their only hope would be to run the table and beat Oklahoma on neutral ground. This doesn’t even factor in the Longhorns, who still have an outside shot at the Big 12 title themselves and have yet to play the Bears.
Simply put, it’s rise up or shut up time, and Baylor won’t be able to make a case if they lose this late into the season.
Clemson
Clemson dominates from start to finish and rolls on to a dominating victory against an inferior ACC school. Should we as a society really consider the ACC as a power five conference? For crud sake, there are more AAC schools in the top 25 than ACC team. This pathetic excuse of a conference is what the Tigers of Clemson feed off of. But, they aren’t quite out of the woods just yet. Both South Carolina and Wake Forest serve as formidable threats and could be the ones to pull Clemson into deeper waters. Clemson without question is in should they win out, but should the Tigers fall, that might be the dagger for the reigning champions.
Minnesota
The eliminator had you dead in the water. The eliminator saw the committees bias, its corruption towards the SEC and Notre Dame and how low the Gophers were in the rankings. The eliminator saw the fact that Minnesota hadn’t played anyone up until Saturday, the three near misses at the beginning of the season and the fact that the Gophers had to go up against Penn State.
Yet here we are; the Gophers just took down the fourth best team in the country and one of only five teams in the country without a loss. Yes, the schedule has been horrendous up until this point, but knocking out Penn State deserves recognition on the national scale. There is only one question the eliminator has for Minnesota: can they go unbeaten heading into Indianapolis?
Despite the perfect record compared to Iowa and Wisconsin two losses, the Big Ten west is not set in stone. And much like the Bears of Baylor, Minnesota has two of their toughest games in the homestretch. As the Nitty Lions can attest to, the Hawkeyes are no easy task to beat on the road, and they will be hungry after falling to Wisconsin. If the Golden Gophers make it out of Kinnick Stadium alive, they’ll then have to face Wisconsin at home.
Will the Tigers be able to keep rowing the boat all the way to a playoff berth, or will the final weeks of the season be filled with the same level of misery Vikings fans experience on a yearly basis?
Ohio State
Ohio State scored more points against Maryland than this sentence’s character count. The eliminator isn’t even going to describe what you just did to Maryland out of fear of you trying to one up that next week. You don’t need Chase Young. You don’t need Justin Fields. You don’t need any of your starters or backups, just putting the practice squad out their next week against Rutgers will cover the 54-point line quite nicely. The eliminator isn’t even going to pay attention to you next week, if it were to physically transcribe next week’s beatdown it will put us on an FBI watchlist. Enjoy your third bye week Buckeyes. Somebody please save the Rutgers from themselves.
On the brink of elimination (6)
Alabama (8-1)
Let us all take a moment to enjoy this moment. Let us all savor this sweet moment. Alabama for the first time since the 2017 Iron Bowl has fallen in the regular season. Soak it all in. Now take one final breath in … and out. Feels good, doesn’t it. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the loss to LSU failed to kill the Tide. Or the elephant? Or what r/cbball portrays Alabama as?
Whatever, the point is Bama is about to use the power of the SEC bias to propel itself to the final four, like it or not unless Baylor wins out. Even then, knowing how the committee is, a one loss Bama would … overtake an undefeated Baylor because reasons and Oregon due to the Alabama > Auburn > Oregon argument. Yet, this does feel weirdly different from 2017, when a non-conference champion Alabama made it in and won the national title because there are three ways Alabama could have its fate sealed.
Method A would be the most realistic as the following would need to happen Alabama loses to Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Should Alabama remain undefeated, these other two methods could work …
Method B would involve the following:
- Clemson, Ohio State, both win out
- LSU wins their final three games but loses in the SEC Championship game to Georgia
- Georgia runs the table
And finally, method C, the option with the most realistic chaos that would be barely enough to overtake Alabama:
- Clemson and LSU win out
- Minnesota runs the table and wins the Big 10
- Ohio State wins their remaining games in convincing fashion while losing to Minnesota
Who is the eliminator kidding, the inevitable round 5 between Alabama and Clemson is still going to happen. God bless the parody in the NCAA.
Georgia (8-1)
Bulldogs, you looked terrible against a battered Missouri defense, but your defense didn’t bend once the entire game. Take your extra bye week and be ready to fight for your lives against a hungry orange Tigers squad looking for revenge. If the Bulldogs can survive Auburn next week, the Bulldogs will likely head into the final week of the season with a shot at the playoffs yet again. Don’t worry Georgia fans, at least it’s not Alabama this time.
Oklahoma (8-1)
Uh, Oklahoma. This isn’t the best time to be playing your worst football of the season. You’re just lucky Iowa State decided to throw it into double coverage instead of kicking the field goal to send it to overtime. Apparently the wagon isn’t the only thing breaking for the Sooners as they scrape by with a fraction of a victory. Are we sure the Big 12 wants to make the college football playoffs? Because the eliminator knows a certain conference dying to get in for the first time since 2014.
Here’s the situation though: Oklahoma still has a shot at the playoffs despite the near upset to the Cyclones. If the Sooners want to get back on track and save their fading playoff hopes, then it starts in Waco. If the Sooners can’t win convincingly against the Bears, then Oklahoma is going to have a hard time winning out against a one-loss Alabama. On the other hand, should the Sooners come out and crush the Bears, the argument is much more favorable for the Sooners to get back into the playoffs
Oregon (8-1)
No changes. Bye Week.
Penn State (8-1)
The eliminator did not see that one coming. The thought coming into this game was Penn State being destined as the lone challenger in the way of Ohio State’s conquest. Those perceptions have now changed drastically for the former No. 4 ranked team in the country.
Yet, Penn State is fortunate and unfortunate enough to still control their own destiny in the college football playoff race. A win against a surprisingly strong Indiana would solidify this team’s confidence. A victory against Rutgers is a part of the Big Ten East’s hazing of the equivalent of a FCS team. But a win against Ohio State? That will get the Nitty Lions back into the thick of the conversation. The big thing is though if the Nitty Lions can beat Ohio State, which a multitude of teams have tried and failed spectacularly to stop. However, hypothetically speaking, should Penn State beat the Buckeyes in the horseshoe there will be a chance for the Nitty Lions to redeem themselves and make the final four.
Utah (8-1)
No changes. Bye Week.
Eliminated (1)
Wake Forest
Method of elimination: Two losses
It was a good run Wake Forest. The eliminator was going to eliminate you anyways for being so far down in the polls, but it doesn’t look like the eliminator going to be breaking any of the established preseason rules this week.
Despite the efforts of Kendall Hinton, Wake Forest couldn’t keep up with the high explosive offense of the Hookies. It may suck for the Demon Deacons, but on the bright side, they are still the number one team in the ACC meaning that they are still in contention for a New Years Six. Now if only they could take down Clemson.
Total number of teams Eliminated: 119
Remaining Teams Games
The following are between teams that still have a shot at making the college football playoffs. Here are the elimination games for week twelve. All times are eastern standard time.
11/16 Oklahoma vs Baylor (7:30 P.M.)
Elimination games
The following games are elimination games, because no matter who wins, one team will meet a criteria that will deem them unworthy of entering the college football playoffs. Here are the elimination games for week twelve. All times are eastern standard time.
None
Previously Eliminated
Week 10
Florida (SEC)
Week 9
Wisconsin (Big Ten)
Auburn (SEC)
Notre Dame (Independent)
Week 8
Michigan (Big Ten)
Arizona State (PAC 12)
Week 7
Virginia (ACC)
Iowa (Big Ten)
Texas (Big 12)
Week 6
Michigan State (Big Ten)
Kansas State (Big 12)
Oklahoma State (Big 12)
California (PAC 12)
Washington (PAC 12)
Week 5
Boston College (ACC)
North Carolina State (ACC)
Virginia Tech (ACC)
Nebraska (Big Ten)
Iowa State (Big 12)
Texas Tech (Big 12)
Washington State (PAC 12)
Mississippi State
Week 4
Navy (AAC)
Louisville (ACC)
North Carolina (ACC)
Northwestern (Big Ten)
TCU (Big 12)
Arkansas (SEC)
Kentucky (SEC)
Texas A&M (SEC)
Week 3
Pittsburgh (ACC)
Illinois (Big 10)
Indiana (Big 10)
Maryland (Big 10)
Colorado (PAC 12)
USC (PAC 12)
Stanford (PAC 12)
South Carolina (SEC)
Week 2
Cincinnati (AAC)
Tulane (AAC)
Miami (ACC)
Syracuse (ACC)
Rutgers (Big Ten)
Kansas (Big 12)
Oregon State (Big 12)
West Virginia (Big 12)
Northern Illinois (MAC)
Western Michigan (MAC)
Vanderbilt (SEC)
Week 1
Houston (AAC)
Duke (ACC)
Florida State (ACC)
Georgia Tech (ACC)
Purdue (Big 10)
FAU (Conference USA)
Middle Tennessee (Conference USA)
Kent State (MAC)
Miami (OH) (MAC)
Mississippi (SEC)
Tennessee (SEC)
UCLA (Pac 12)
Week 0
Arizona (Pac 12)
Preseason
Connecticut (AAC)
East Carolina (AAC)
Memphis (AAC)
SMU(AAC)
Temple (AAC)
UCF(AAC)
Alabama-Birmingham (Conference USA)
Charlotte (Conference USA)
Florida International (Conference USA)
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
Marshall (Conference USA)
North Texas (Conference USA)
Rice (Conference USA)
Southern Mississippi (Conference USA)
Texas San-Antonio (Conference USA)
Western Kentucky (Conference USA)
Akron (MAC)
Ball State (MAC)
Bowling Green (MAC)
Buffalo (MAC)
Central Michigan (MAC)
Eastern Michigan (MAC)
Ohio (MAC)
Toledo (MAC)
Air Force (Mountain West)
Boise State (Mountain West)
Colorado State (Mountain West)
Fresno State (Mountain West)
Hawaii (Mountain West)
Nevada (Mountain West)
New Mexico State (Mountain West)
San Jose State (Mountain West)
UNLV (Mountain West)
Utah State (Mountain West)
Wyoming (Mountain West)
Missouri (SEC)*
Appalachian State (Sun Belt)
Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt)
Georgia State (Sun Belt)
Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)
Louisiana (Sun Belt)
Louisiana Monroe (Sun Belt)
South Alabama (Sun Belt)
Troy (Sun Belt)
Texas State (Sun Belt)
Army (Independent)
BYU (Independent)
Liberty (Independent)
New Mexico State (Independent)
UMass (Independent)
*Missouri is bowl ineligible but is currently in the appeals process.
Edited by Emma Moloney | [email protected]