One of the great things about the 12-team College Football Playoff is the expansion of teams that can legitimately say they are in the hunt deep into the season. That was the case last year and it certainly is again in a season that is trending toward being one of the most chaotic the sport has had.
As the selection committee prepares to meet on Tuesday in Dallas for the first time to rank teams, I looked at the entire field to see which teams are removing themselves from CFP contention after taking losses—or simply not playing well.
Enter The Eliminator, where we’re cutting teams and seeing which ones still have a (often mathematical) chance to play for the national title. Here’s where things stand after Week 10.
College Football Playoff field after Week 10
36 teams, 26% of FBS
- ACC (7)
- Big 12 (5)
- Big Ten (7)
- SEC (8)
- Independent (1)
- American (6)
- Mountain West (1)
- Sun Belt (1)
Teams eliminated after Saturday
- Wake Forest
- Kansas State
- Houston
- Nebraska
- Tennessee
- Temple
- Boise State
- UNLV
Out of the playoff chase
100 teams, 74% of FBS
- ACC (10)
- Big 12 (11)
- Big Ten (11)
- SEC (8)
- Independent (1)
- American (8)
- CUSA (12)
- MAC (13)
- Mountain West (11)
- Pac-12 (2)
- Sun Belt (13)
ACC
Alive: Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville, SMU, Duke, Miami
It was a devastating weekend for the ACC’s chances of landing two teams into the field with a high degree of confidence, but that hope hasn’t been completely extinguished. There’s a chance we could be looking deep into the conference manual’s tiebreakers as there might be as many as four teams tied with 7–1 records in league play hoping to get to the conference title game. The Hurricanes have the biggest uphill climb as they need a ton to happen to even have a shot at landing the automatic bid. Their likely only path will be running the table and hoping their strong nonconference résumé gives them the edge over a weaker Big 12 or SEC candidate. Week 13 could be key in the ACC with Louisville going to SMU and Pitt traveling to Georgia Tech.
Eliminated: Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons mustered only a 19-yard touchdown drive in the final few minutes of getting blown out at Florida State to avoid a shutout on Saturday. That gave them a third loss in ACC play to end any playoff permutations, but they should still be labeled an overachiever for even being in the conversation at this point in the year as they have four shots to get bowl eligible.
Out: Cal, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, North Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
Big 12
Alive: BYU, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Utah, TCU
The Big 12 tiebreakers can either be very simple or they could get very complicated. Week 11 features the Cougars travelling to Lubbock for what could be both schools’ biggest game in over 15 years. It could be a chance for the Red Raiders to nearly lock up a berth in the conference title game if they win. While the Bearcats got absolutely run over by Utah late on Saturday night, they remain in the hunt with only one loss in conference play and get BYU at home in a few weeks plus TCU in the regular-season finale. The Utes need help with some of the tiebreakers, but it’s not inconceivable that results fall their way to make it to the Big 12 championship and they could even remain in at-large consideration at 10–2.
Eliminated: Kansas State, Houston
The Wildcats looked like they were going to pull off some Little Apple voodoo before Texas Tech completely flipped a switch to hand them a fifth loss of the season (and third in league play) to more firmly eliminate them from the faint hopes of postseason glory. As for the Cougars, they inexplicably lost at home to West Virginia to take their second loss of the season. Houston could still finish 10–2 but has such a weak nonconference schedule which would hold them back from any at-large consideration. Houston is also far down in the pecking order for tiebreakers given the loss to Texas Tech and their other common opponents.
Out: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, UCF, West Virginia
Big Ten
Alive: Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa, Michigan, USC, Washington
It wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Big Ten’s chances to get more than three teams into the CFP if the Ducks lost a close one to either USC or Washington. As things stand, this is a big month for Dan Lanning’s team as four convincing victories, starting this Saturday at Iowa, would likely lock up a CFP first-round game at Autzen Stadium.
Eliminated: Nebraska
You can’t say the Cornhuskers didn’t have it there for the taking against USC on Saturday night, amid the blackout conditions and a furious crowd against a team that typically finds ways to lose on the road out east. Instead, Nebraska lost its quarterback for the rest of the season and now sit .500 in Big Ten play with three tricky contests that could be cause for encouragement or make that Matt Rhule extension look quite foolish.
Out: Minnesota, Illinois, UCLA, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin
SEC
Alive: Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma
It’s early November and does anybody truly have an idea about how good Texas is? The Longhoens won just one Power 4 game by more than one score and that one, against Oklahoma, came as the Sooners’ quarterback was barely two weeks removed from hand surgery. Scoring a touchdown at Ohio State ages better in retrospect, but the Longhorns’ final two games against top five opponents will tell us for sure if the preseason No. 1 squad is still legitimately a contender.
Eliminated: Tennessee
It speaks to the modern pressures that head coaches face that a vocal minority in the Vols’ fan base is suddenly out on Josh Heupel following a CFP-eliminating one-score loss at home to Oklahoma. Tennessee was always ticketed toward some regression in 2025 given the roster turnover it faced. You would think that getting into the bracket last year would have bought Heupel some grace given how disastrous things were prior to his arrival. The close loss to Georgia was still doing a lot of work around the Vols’ reputation, but Saturday’s game against the Sooners should allow for a proper readjustment about this team.
Out: LSU, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State
Independent
Alive: Notre Dame
How much of the Irish playing with their food at Boston College was because they were maybe doing a little bit of advance prep work for Navy’s option this Saturday and how much of it was just a case of a team struggling during their first road trip in a month? Either way, that’s six consecutive wins for Marcus Freeman’s team, which suddenly have two more shots at quality wins in November between the one-loss Midshipmen and a red-hot Pitt team after that.
Out: UConn
American
Alive: Navy, Tulane, Memphis, South Florida, North Texas, East Carolina
In retrospect, whoever was in charge of making the American’s schedule this season deserves a raise because it seems like every week there is a massive game of consequence that has an impact on the playoff picture. The league remains a prohibitive favorite to secure the Group of 5 bid, but has to be mindful of some tiebreaker scenarios that could open the door for a bid thief elsewhere if a two-loss program wins the conference.
Eliminated: Temple
It was quite an upset to see Owls quarterback Evan Simon look quite mortal (11 of 20, 80 yards) in throwing his first interception of the season in a game that got away from them quickly against East Carolina. Temple was always an outside shot to make it to the American title game, but it’s still a great season as K.C. Keeler has the program on the verge of its first bowl game since 2019.
Out: Army, Charlotte, FAU, Rice, Tulsa, UAB, UTSA
Conference USA
Out: Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky, Missouri State, Liberty, Delaware, Louisiana Tech, Florida International, UTEP, New Mexico State, MTSU, Sam Houston
MAC
Out: Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan, Ohio, Buffalo, Western Michigan, Toledo, Ball State, Kent State, Akron, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, UMass
Mountain West
Alive: San Diego State
It would be slightly ironic if the team that winds up preventing the Aztecs from getting a bid to the playoff at 12–1 is actually a future conference opponent—and one of the two programs that approved SDSU’s Pac-12 membership—in Washington State.
Eliminated: Boise State, UNLV
Broncos fans have been agitating for a quarterback change, and when that happened with Maddux Madsen’s injury, it wasn’t pretty. The Broncos got housed on the blue turf by Fresno State on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Rebels took themselves out of the playoff chase thanks to that loss against New Mexico.
Out: Hawai’i, New Mexico, Fresno State, Utah State, Wyoming, San Jose State, Colorado State, Air Force, Nevada
Pac-12
Out: Washington State, Oregon State
Sun Belt
Alive: James Madison
The Dukes have the No. 11 scoring defense in FBS, a top-30 offense and narrowly lost a game at Louisville for their only blemish of the season. This is not only the class of the Sun Belt after two straight blowouts in midweek action, but they remain firmly in the mix to capitalize if the American starts to eat its own down the stretch. It sure would help their résumé if Liberty can win CUSA as an extra data point for the selection committee.
Out: Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Old Dominion, App State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Troy, Arkansas State, UL Monroe, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Playoff Eliminator: Which Teams Are Out or Alive for a Berth After Week 10.
