The Eliminator: There's always next year, Nebraska and Florida State

We're five weeks into the 2019 college football season, and the rankings look a lot like they did a month ago.

The top six teams have remained the same though the first six polls --for the first time in the history of the AP Top 25, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Although the teams have moved positions, the top six teams have remained unchanged since the preseason.

If only that were the case for the 85 FBS teams that already have fallen out of contention for one of the four coveted spots in the College Football Playoff.

In the first 2019 edition of the Eliminator, 14 teams remain in contention for those four CFP berths, and nine of those are from the Big Ten or SEC, which means that crowd will continue to thin out. There are 31 other teams with work to do, but 85 teams have already been eliminated, including all of Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

Although the process is largely subjective, there are a few ground rules. Every team from a Group of 5 league with one loss is gone. So are teams from Power 5 leagues with three or more losses.

There are a few exceptions. Florida State already lost to Boise State and Virginia -- and nearly lost to Louisiana Monroe. Nebraska isn't coming back this season. Teams with multiple lopsided defeats (such as NC State and Syracuse) or an embarrassing Group of 5 loss (such as Illinois) are also gone.

Here's the first edition of the Eliminator:

Still in contention

On the fence

Better luck next season