5 college football teams potentially eliminated from CFP contention after Week 9 loss

After Week 9, there are some teams that established themselves as CFP contenders and others that have fallen off the list.

Week 9 told us a lot about which teams are contenders and which are pretenders. Here's a look at some of the pretenders that almost got eliminated from CFP contention.

Teams potentially eliminated from CFP contention after Week 9

#1 Illinois Fighting Illini

The Illinois Fighting Illini are 24th in the most recent AP Poll and are coming off a 38-9 road loss to the Oregon Ducks. They are 2-2 in their last four games and fifth in the Big Ten Conference.

They still have some difficult names against teams in their level of play so this is going to be difficult for the Fighting Illini to go undefeated. They are likely not making the Big Ten Championship game this season.

#2 Missouri Tigers

The Missouri Tigers are 25th in the country after their 34-0 road loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide in their most recent game. This dropped their record to 6-2 and are 1-2 against ranked programs this season.

They need to figure out how to win and have a tough schedule remaining with the SEC opponents. Not all SEC teams will make the CFP so this loss was tough.

#3 Navy Midshipmen

The Navy Midshipmen lost at home to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 9 and it was not pretty as the final score was 51-14.

The Midshipmen are still 6-1 and second in the American Conference but they are going to struggle to stay amongst the top two programs in the conference.

Navy has a game against Army still on the schedule so expect the Notre Dame loss to knock them out of the CFP race.

#4 Vanderbilt Commodores

The Vanderbilt Commodores were the story of the last few weeks and are now outside of the AP Poll. They were four points away from the 25th spot.

They lost at home to the Texas Longhorns and now are 5-3 overall. The Commodores have vastly improved with quarterback Diego Pavia but three losses is tough to be in the CFP.

#5 SMU Mustangs

The SMU Mustangs were victorious in Week 9 but barely, as they were able to secure a 28-27 overtime road win over the Duke Blue Devils.

Despite the victory, they almost blew the game and were a two-point conversion away from losing outright. They still have a 7-1 record but with a Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Panthers, their CFP hopes are almost over.