College Football Playoffs 2024-25: Week 11 Clinch and Bracket Elimination Scenarios

The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2024 gave us a good idea into how the selection committee will approach the 12-team playoff.

The real drama, as it has for most of the season, lies around the No. 9 spot rankings and below.

The final few at-large spots will be handed out to the programs ranked Nos. 9-11, and in the Alabama Crimson Tide's case, they sit in 11th ahead of their Week 11 clash with the LSU Tigers.

With LSU at No. 15, Saturday night's clash in Baton Rouge will have the feel of an elimination game for one of the at-large spots.

The 16th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels are staring elimination in the face as well in Week 11. They need to upset the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs to be in a decent position to contend for an at-large spot.

That will be the theme over the next couple weeks across college football. No one can clinch a playoff spot until December, but teams can certainly lose out on them in November.

Alabama, LSU Playing to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

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COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - OCTOBER 26: Garrett Nussmeier #13 of the LSU Tigers throws a pass in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field on October 26, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Alabama and LSU both enter Week 11 with two losses.

A third defeat feels like a death sentence for a team's playoff hopes, even if they play in the SEC.

Alabama holds one of the better wins of the season over the Georgia Bulldogs, but losses to the Vanderbilt Commodores and Tennessee Volunteers put their playoff hopes on life support.

A third loss by the Crimson Tide would knock them out of the top 15 with no opportunities left to earn quality wins.

The message is even clearer to LSU, who at No. 15, can't afford any more slip-ups in their playoff chase.

The Tigers have only lost to Top 25 teams in 2024, but the opening week defeat to the USC Trojans looks worse by the week.

LSU's win over Ole Miss hasn't held up as well as the Tigers would have wanted it to either, so they need to beat Bama and then win their final three regular-season games.

LSU only has one SEC loss, so there is an outside chance that if it wins its remaining games, that it could play in the SEC Championship Game.

An argument can be made, though, that LSU would not want to play in the conference title game, because if it loses that contest, it would have three losses and might miss the playoff.

Ole Miss Needs to Beat Georgia

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FAYETTEVILLE, AR - NOVEMBER 02: Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) carries the football during the college football game between the Mississippi Rebels and Arkansas Razorbacks on November 2, 2024, at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Ole Miss resides in a must-win spot at home against Georgia in Week 11.

Lane Kiffin's team needs the victory to move it back up near the top 12 from its current spot at No. 16.

The Rebels are in this spot because they lost to an up-and-down Kentucky Wildcats team at home and fell to LSU on the road.

They also have one of the weakest schedules in the Power Four conferences. They have zero wins over Top 25 teams.

Georgia is the last ranked foe on Ole Miss' schedule, so a win on Saturday plus two blowout victories against the Florida Gators and Mississippi State Bulldogs are required to have a shot at an-large spot.

A loss to UGA would eliminate the Rebels and potentially knock them out of the Top 25.

Big 12 Teams Must Keep Winning

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ORLANDO, FL - OCTOBER 26: Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) scrambles upfield during a game between the BYU Cougars and the UCF Knights on October 26, 2024 at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, FL. (Photo by Ricky Bowden/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Big 12 was not valued by the CFB Playoff committee in Tuesday's rankings release.

BYU, the league's best team, checked in at No. 9, while no other squads cracked the top 16.

The Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas State Wildcats, who both lost in Week 10, landed at Nos. 17 and 19, while the Colorado Buffaloes were put at No. 20.

Iowa State is 7-1, while K-State and Colorado have two losses, but they all must avoid any upsets for the rest of November to have a chance of contending for an at-large spot.

A lot of reliance will be on teams above them losing, which is why there will be a lot of Georgia fans across the Big 12 in Week 11. If UGA wins, the Bama-LSU loser and Ole Miss would likely fall out of the top 20.

BYU, Iowa State and Colorado are all on the road in Week 11.

The Buffaloes have the toughest test of the three with a trip to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders. BYU and Iowa State face struggling teams, but BYU is playing in a rivalry game with the Utah Utes and ISU takes on a Kansas Jayhawks team that just pushed K-State deep into the fourth quarter two weeks ago.

There's plenty of potential for chaos across the Big 12, which is exact opposite thing the league needs if it wants to get more than the conference champion into the 12-team playoff.