From 43 teams four weeks ago in the first 2017 installment of The Eliminator, we're down to 17 as the light of a November dawn nears and the College Football Playoff committee toils behind closed doors at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.
Let's note first that this process remains an inexact science, evidenced by the inclusion of Stanford and North Carolina State as the last two teams to survive the cut. How do their résumés differ from USC and Michigan State, the first two left out? Not all that much, to be honest, but the line must be drawn somewhere.