Washington and Oregon are among 25 FBS teams still in contention for the College Football Playoff entering Week 7. The Huskies and Ducks meet this weekend in Eugene in a de facto elimination game.
The Pac-12 enters the weekend with the second-fewest teams alive in the playoff race (four), and that number is guaranteed to shrink with the Washington-Oregon game. Which other conferences will see their contender group shrink?
Here are playoff elimination predictions for Week 7:
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Michigan State
Week 7: at Penn State
Despite the Spartans' loss to Northwestern in Week 6, they remained in contention thanks to future opportunities vs. Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State (and likely Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship if Michigan State miraculously won the Big Ten East).
Michigan State will be officially eliminated with a Week 7 loss at Penn State, their third loss of the season.
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Washington
Week 7: at Oregon
As I stated several times, a two-loss team will eventually make a four-team playoff field. That, however, won't happen this year in the Pac-12.
With a predicted loss to Oregon, Washington's best wins in a potential 10-win regular season would be Colorado and Stanford. And with a predicted weak Pac-12 South by season's end, those wins aren't enough to overcome two losses, especially if Auburn continues stumbling.
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Wisconsin
Week 7: at Michigan
Wisconsin's margin for error vanished with their Week 3 loss to BYU. The Badgers are officially out with this weekend's loss to Michigan.
The Big Ten East might be able to support a two-loss playoff team. That Big Ten West, however, cannot, especially this season.
