Our Eliminator series is nearing the end of this college football season. With just ten games left before we learn the College Football Playoff entrants, we are getting some pretty narrow scenarios for every team that can make the Playoff.
An interesting thing this year is that a lot more non-Power 4 teams are still alive than expected. This is not because there are multiple possibilities for the best Group of 5 champion; the AAC has that locked up. Instead, it’s because of Duke. Even if the Blue Devils win the ACC, they won’t be one of the top five conference champions. They would be behind the AAC champ, as well as James Madison or UNLV.
If all of Duke, Troy, and Boise State win this week, I will have to un-eliminate teams for the first time ever while doing this series. And the team I would un-eliminate isn’t clear. Would Duke get the bid at 8-5? Would be it 9-4 Boise State or Troy? Or would a 10-3 Kennesaw State team suddenly get looks? We might have a massive bubble for the fifth-highest conference champion.
Lastly, we have three more Playoff locks this week. Georgia, Oregon, and Ole Miss are all going to be in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
Let’s give a quick table of the teams still alive in the Playoff race. (Of the two independents and two Pac-12 teams, only Notre Dame is still in contention.)
Remember, I don’t predict the outcomes of games here. I have one rule for how I eliminate a team. I ask: Does this team have a chance to reach the Playoff if it wins out? If the answer is maybe or yes, then that team isn’t eliminated. If the answer is no, then it makes the list.
In addition to this weekly article, I will be counting down the teams in this thread on X (formerly Twitter). I will also have a second thread detailing which teams (using the same principles) are out of contention for the seven at-large spots.
Week 14 College Football Playoff Eliminator
27 teams entered Week 14 with a chance of making the College Football Playoff if they win out, and three entered as locks. We eliminated 12 more in Week 14 and locked three more teams into the Playoff, leaving 12 still in contention for the final six spots.
Previous Weeks
Week 13
Week 12
Week 11:
Week 10:
Week 9
Week 8:
Week 7:
Week 6:
Week 5:
Week 4:
Week 3:
Week 2:
Week 1:
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: College Football Playoff eliminator after Week 14
Reporting by Yesh Ginsburg, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
