College Football Playoff Eliminator: Which Teams Are Out or Alive for a Berth After Week 2

Week 2 was circled on the calendar, and it was every bit the box office we expected. That included the incredibly dramatic finishes for the two marquee Big Ten vs. SEC games that bookended Saturday, a coming-out party by a quarterback in another, plus one of the most surprising results anybody saw coming in Stillwater, Okla. In between, plenty of teams kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive while others found their postseason hope put on life support.

With that in mind, it’s time to examine just what the impact of all those results will be by entering The Eliminator—where we’re cutting teams and seeing which ones still have (an often mathematical) chance to play for the national title. Here’s where the field stands after Week 2.

College Football Playoff field after Week 2

Playoff locks

Zero teams (0% of the bracket)

Alive for a CFP bid

113 teams, 82% of FBS

ACC (16)
Big 12 (16)
Big Ten (18)
SEC (16)
Independent (1)
American (12)
Conference USA (4)
MAC (8)
Mountain West (5)
Pac-12 (6)
Sun Belt (12)

Teams eliminated after Week 2

Georgia Tech
East Carolina
Liberty
New Mexico State
UConn
Buffalo
Northern Illinois
UNLV
Nevada
Washington State
Louisiana-Monroe

Out of the playoff chase

25 teams, 18% of FBS

ACC (1)
Big 12 (0)
Big Ten (1)
SEC (0)
Independent (1)
American (2)
Conference USA (6)
MAC (5)
Mountain West (5)
Pac-12 (2)
Sun Belt (2)

ACC

Alive: Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

Solid and almost spectacular is probably how you could term Week 2 for the ACC, which saw plenty of contenders (Miami, Louisville, SMU, Virginia, Virginia Tech, etc.) romp against lower-tier opposition, while Wake Forest and Duke secured big-time road wins at Big Ten schools. However, Clemson still doesn’t look like the program we have come to know, the rain put a damper on Pitt’s offense and one of the league’s teams is already on the outside looking in at the CFP discussion.

Eliminated: Georgia Tech

Poor Bees—0–2 already after suffering a pair of home losses to power-conference opposition. More concerning for Brent Key might be the lack of toughness his defense has shown across both games and a run game that isn’t clicking at all. You figured this would be a bit of a transition season given the personnel and coaching turnover, but the Yellow Jackets have an uphill climb to make a bowl game and would need to play perfectly even to get in the CFP discussion. That’s not happening based on what we’ve seen out of the team so far.

Out: Georgia Tech

Big 12

Alive: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, West Virginia

There were a lot of eyes on the Big 12, and the conference largely delivered quality showings that confirm every game in league play will be tough. You have to start with Oklahoma State however, not only delivering a résumé-boosting victory but proof that you can improve dramatically from one Saturday to the next. We’ll have highlights of that upset of Oregon playing for weeks to come and it’s huge for the perception of the league. It would have helped if Arizona State saw its quality effort at Texas A&M rewarded by a smaller final margin on the scoreboard and for Texas Tech to not mess around with Oregon State, but beggars won’t be choosers in the Big 12 as they took a good step toward landing two CFP teams in 2026.

Eliminated: None

Out: None

Big Ten

Alive: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, USC, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin

Are the cracks in the Big Ten armor starting to show when it comes to conference strength? It seemed like it in Week 2 as Ohio State collapsed against Texas, Oregon inexplicably lost to Oklahoma State, Louisiana put up 30 on USC’s defense and Illinois couldn’t stop Duke from leaving town with a win. Toss in Penn State and Iowa looking lethargic during in-state rivalry games, Washington surviving Utah State by the skin of its teeth, and the results from this past weekend put a dent into the league’s claims of superiority.

Eliminated: None

Out: Rutgers

SEC

Alive: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

A perfect start to the nonconference schedule finally ended on Saturday, but it was otherwise a pretty good weekend for the SEC. Mississippi State notched an impressive road win at a Big Ten side, Texas’s remarkable comeback to upset then No. 1 Ohio State is going to pay dividends for ages and most of the other contenders took care of business. Perhaps the only signs of concern might be at Vanderbilt after narrowly beating Delaware and Arkansas confirming it is in the early stages of a massive rebuild following that drubbing to Utah.

Eliminated: None

Out: None

Independents

Alive: Notre Dame

There was always a chance that Rice’s unique option offense could give a team fits, but the Irish had none of that in notching a shutout at home in Week 2. Just as notable might have been CJ Carr looking sharp and the offense carrying over its production from the second half of the Wisconsin game into all four quarters of its second win.

Eliminated: UConn

The Huskies have precious few opportunities against power-conference opposition on the schedule so they need to take advantage of every shot they get. Getting blown out by Maryland after allowing a slew of scoring drives isn’t going to cut it and having a perfect record was about the only way they could have talked themselves into the CFP discussion.

Out: UConn

American

Alive: Army, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Tulane, Rice, South Florida, Temple, Tulsa, UAB, UTSA

The American was so close to having a phenomenal weekend when it came to Group of 6 positioning, between Temple looking feisty at Penn State, UTSA topping a Pac-12 contender in Texas State and, of course, North Texas putting UNLV in the blender. Yet some of the losses by the league, particularly Memphis at Boise State, could wind up coming back to haunt it when comparing conference strength at the very top later on this fall.

Eliminated: East Carolina

Two turnovers and a lack of third-down conversions are going to doom any team and that was the case for the Pirates against Appalachian State on Saturday. That loss hurts after showing a few nice things against Alabama in the opener and drops ECU from real contention in the Group of 6 race.

Out: Charlotte

Conference USA

Alive: Delaware, Kennesaw State, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri State

There were not a ton of positives for CUSA as it became the only conference not to have an undefeated team going into Week 3. Reigning champion Kennesaw State took a tough loss down the road to a Sun Belt side, Sam Houston State couldn’t quite pull off a shocker and many of the teams you would expect to be atop the standings have started the season slow. If there was something of note, Delaware pushing an SEC team (Vanderbilt) into the fourth quarter certainly was it even if that ended with a loss.

Eliminated: Liberty, New Mexico State

It says a lot that the Flames can cross their name off the committee’s list of teams to consider after a win, but that’s the state of the program now after scraping by to beat Gardner-Webb on the back of losing to James Madison in the opener. The resources Jamey Chadwell has to work with have not matched the results on the field and now you even wonder about the program within the CUSA hierarchy they should consistently be on top of. The Aggies, at least, got a nice trip out to the islands as part of their 1–2 start.

Out: Florida International, Jacksonville State, Sam Houston State, Western Kentucky

MAC

Alive: Akron, Ball State, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, UMass, Western Michigan

True midweek MACtion hasn’t yet arrived, but the drama still reigns supreme in the league after Ohio’s four-overtime win (in the pouring rain) over Jacksonville State took the baton from Western Michigan last week for the most ridiculous ending in the sport. The Broncos, at least, had it easy against Monmouth as they look to move on from the events at Michigan, one of a number of convincing wins across the MAC in Week 2.

Eliminated: Buffalo

The good news for the Bulls is that the NFL’s Bills have returned to action because the college side in Buffalo seems unlikely to make the postseason after struggling against an FCS team in the opener and then losing by two touchdowns to FIU.

Out: Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Sacramento State

Mountain West

Alive: Air Force, New Mexico, North Dakota State, San José State, UTEP

Yes, it’s a long season and there are plenty of games left on the docket, but it sure seems like New Mexico and North Dakota State have separated themselves from the pack in the MWC. The Bison notched their first FBS conference win by holding on at Air Force, and the Lobos continue to roll up impressive stats as they head to a vulnerable Oklahoma side that should not overlook Jason Eck’s program one bit.

Eliminated: Nevada, Northern Illinois, UNLV

Montana State is an excellent FCS program that is a challenge on any game day but losing to any team from the lower levels is going to be enough to knock a team like the Wolf Pack from the running to make the CFP. The same can be said of Northern Illinois falling to the other FCS title game participant on Saturday. As for UNLV, this once-promising season has been derailed quickly after blowing that game against Memphis at home and then getting thumped at North Texas to fall to 1–2. It appears Dan Mullen can’t really fix Jackson Arnold behind center and attention in Vegas will have to turn to winning the league at this point.

Out: Hawai’i, Wyoming

Pac-12

Alive: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State

It felt like the Pac-12’s grip on the Group of 6 bid was strengthened in Week 2 by a good margin even with some losses. Oregon State, in particular, looks vastly improved from a year ago after it has given two legitimate Big 12 contenders all they can handle to start the season. Utah State and San Diego State were pesky until the end at Big Ten foes, and Texas State should really be talking about a win at American Conference contender UTSA instead of a loss. Of course, nothing had a greater impact on the league’s chances of a CFP bid than Boise State clamping down on Memphis to run away with a convincing win on the blue turf that will be a topic of conversation for the committee later this fall.

Eliminated: Washington State

You can’t deny that the Cougars have a brutal schedule to start the season, including two difficult road games at Power 4 programs and a third coming to Pullman, Wash., in Week 4. You do see the occasional flash of being an upper-half program in the Pac-12 this year but sitting at 0–2 with just 17 points scored on the season is enough to knock them out of the Group of 6 bid conversation early.

Out: Utah State

Sun Belt

Alive: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, James Madison, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Troy

It was quite the weekend across the Sun Belt, notching several notable victories like Georgia State knocking off Atlanta rival Kennesaw State and App State topping East Carolina, both Louisiana and Louisiana Tech looking pesky on the road at highly ranked Power 4 schools and James Madison padding the stats in an 87–3 drubbing of an FCS side.

Eliminated: Louisiana-Monroe

The Warhawks had to be kicking themselves after holding a double-digit second-half lead before letting UAB storm back with 16 unanswered to win it late in Birmingham. That drops ULM to 0–2 and adds the program to the ranks of the eliminated at mid-September.

Out: Arkansas State

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