Virginia Tech's loss to Old Dominion in Week 4 was a devastating blow to their College Football Playoff hopes, but the one-loss Hokies are not yet officially eliminated from playoff contention. However, a loss to Duke in Week 5 would put a nail in their coffin.
Entering Week 5, Virginia Tech is one of 40 FBS teams still in playoff contention. While only a handful of those 40 have realistic hopes to make the four-team field, the others are still alive. The Hokies are one of eight ACC teams in contention, though that number is projected to shrink this weekend. Of the five teams projected to be eliminated in Week 5, two are in the ACC: Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Here are the predictions for teams eliminated from playoff contention in Week 5.
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Baylor
Baylor's Week 5 loss to Oklahoma will push the Bears one game back of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings. And, as a result of the loss, they won't have the tiebreaker, meaning they'll need to be two full games better than Oklahoma over the final seven conference games to win the division. That's not happening.
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Texas Tech
I've gone back and forth on the West Virginia-Texas Tech game several times. I have no confidence the Mountaineers will win, and this is nothing more than a coin flip.
A two-loss team will eventually make a four-team field but it won't be this season in the Big 12. Also, like Baylor and Oklahoma, Texas Tech would lose the tiebreaker to West Virginia.
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Utah
Coin flip for Utah-Washington State, too.
While a loss in Pullman wouldn't knock Utah out of the wide-open Pac-12 South race, a two-loss team from a mediocre division has no playoff chance this season.
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Virginia
We'll see how good Duke is, if Virginia Tech rebounds from the ODU loss and if Miami (FL) gets rolling, but right now, the ACC Coastal isn't good enough to send a two-loss team to the playoff, especially one that lost to Indiana.
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Virginia Tech
There's no chance the playoff committee selects a team that lost to a lowly Conference USA team, right? Highly unlikely, though not impossible.
If Virginia Tech runs the table with wins over Duke, Notre Dame, Miami (FL) and Clemson (ACC Championship), they have a shot. Unfortunately, they'll lose in Durham in Week 5.
