College Football Eliminator 2016-17: Week 9

12. Twelve teams left, just nine percent of the 128-team FBS field. Four teams in, four teams out, and four teams that need help. Five of last week's fourteen teams left lost, but only two were eliminated. Find out who's left and who's gone after three quarters of the college football season.

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The Four Playoff Teams

The top four doesn't change this week as all four either had byes or won their games. Alabama had a bye before their highly anticipated match with LSU on Saturday in Death Valley. Michigan beat Michigan State 32-23 and pushed them to the brink of elimination from bowl eligibility in the process. Clemson managed to hold out for a three-point win over Florida State in a back-and-forth game in Tallahassee. A sack from the Tiger defense pushed Deondre Francois and the Seminole offense out of field goal range on their last drive, forcing a pathetic Hail Mary attempt that led to another sack and clinched the victory for Clemson. Washington beat Utah on a game-winning 58-yard punt return by Dante Pettis, eliminating the Utes from playoff contention in the process. The rankings are accurate this week, as the top four go in order: #1 Alabama, #2 Michigan, #3 Clemson, and #4 Washington.

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Outside Looking In

All four teams from last week's 'Outside Looking In' group lost except for Western Michigan, who plays Ball State on Tuesday, which bothers me so much that I moved them down into the 'In the Hunt' group. If you play your football on Tuesdays (next week's game is on a Tuesday as well), you can't be making serious moves towards the playoff. Nebraska lost so they need to beat Ohio State to stay in playoff contention, Baylor lost to Texas and West Virginia lost by three possessions to Oklahoma State, making it unlikely that the Big 12 will see the playoff, similar to the first edition of the CFP in 2015. This group needed some fresh faces anyways, so here they are: #5 Louisville, #6 Ohio State, #7 Texas A&M, and #10 Florida. If you looked hard enough, you could see glimpses of Alabama's dominant rush defense in the Florida Gators. They held the Georgia offense to just 21 rushing yards on 19 carries. I'm not a statistics expert, but I would bet that 100% of teams that score more points than they allow rushing yards from the other team win the football game. Florida needs to keep this up if they want to beat Arkansas in Fayetteville and be taken more seriously be the CFP Committee. Louisville definitely has some flaws, but Lamar Jackson put the team on his back in the second half and came back to beat Virginia by a touchdown. Survive and advance. Ohio State knows a little bit about that: they survived a scare from unranked Northwestern at home by four points, who looked like a New Years Six team against this faltering defense. They have a chance to redeem themselves against Nebraska in an elimination game (!!) in Columbus. Finally, Texas A&M murdered New Mexico State 52-10 in preparation for the travel to Starksville to take on Mississippi State this weekend.

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In the Hunt

#13 Baylor - The Bears lost a thriller to Texas in Austin 35-34, making the Big 12 the first Power Five conference with no undefeated teams, losing just hours after West Virginia. They come home to Waco to host TCU on Saturday, who will be looking to crush Baylor's playoff hopes.

#9 Nebraska - Ohio State could do in Nebraska just a short time after being in serious playoff discussion. The Huskers are still in a better position to win the Big Ten West than Wisconsin, but a Big Ten Championship Game appearance (or even a win) would only translate into a Cotton Bowl if they have two losses under their belt come bowl selection time.

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#17 Western Michigan - The Broncos play Ball State Tuesday so we'll just call them safe for now.

#14 West Virginia - Just as we start getting serious about the Mountaineers being a possible playoff participant, they decide to lose by three possessions to an Oklahoma State team that lost to Central Michigan at home. Still possible, but WVU needs some serious help if they want to make the playoff.

Eliminated

Boise State - The last thing you want to do in the last two minutes of a tied football game is give up points and the ball to the opposing team. Like, even giving the other team a touchdown would have been better. Now the Broncos, who have already clinched bowl eligibility, will focus on trying to make the Cotton Bowl, rather than the Las Vegas Bowl.

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Utah - Dante Pettis killed the last hope for the Beehive State sending a team to the playoff for the third year in a row. Joe Williams and the Utes can still go to a nice bowl game, expect to see them fighting for the Rose Bowl, but possibly settling for the Alamo Bowl.

Eliminated in Week 8

No Eliminations

Eliminated in Week 7

Arizona State, Maryland, Miami, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Wisconsin

Eliminated in Week 6

Air Force, Arkansas, Colorado, Houston, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas Tech

Eliminated in Week 5

Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Memphis, Michigan State, Navy, San Diego State, TCU, Texas, Toledo

Eliminated in Week 4

Arizona, Army, Central Michigan, Georgia Southern, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, South Florida, UCLA

Eliminated in Week 3

Auburn, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Duke, East Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Marshall, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Southern Miss

Eliminated in Week 2

Akron, Ball State, BYU, California, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, NC State, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Purdue, SMU, South Alabama, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Troy, Tulsa, UCF, UNLV, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Western Kentucky, Wyoming

Eliminated in Week 1

Appalachian State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Charlotte, FIU, Fresno State, Georgia State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Massachusetts, Miami (OH), Mississippi State, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio, Oregon State, Rice, Rutgers, San Jose State, Southern California, Temple, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State

Check back in next Sunday to find out if your team has been eliminated in 'College Football Eliminator 2016-17: Week 10'.