CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The quarterfinal round -- or as NASCAR calls it, the Round of 12 -- of the Chase for the Sprint Cup could be called the half-and-half round.Half of the field of 12 are former champions: Matt Kenseth (2003), Kurt Busch (2004), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013), Brad Keselowski (2012), Kevin Harvick (2014) and Kyle Busch (2015).Half of the field of 12 have never won a title: Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Austin Dillon.Elliott and Dillon have never even won a Cup race. Johnson leads all drivers with 77 career wins.By manufacturer, its fairly even: Five Toyotas, five Chevrolets and two Fords.Heres a look at their chances of advancing to the Round of 8 as every driver left starts even with 3,000 points:1. Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row Racing No. 78 ToyotaFirst-round wins: 2First-round points: 2,131 (1st)Why he will advance: Simple. Hes been the most dominant driver as of late, having won three of the past five races.Why he wont: Remember all those near-wins and bad luck he had in the first 24 races? It can return in an instant.2. Kevin HarvickStewart-Haas Racing No. 4 ChevroletFirst-round wins: 1First-round points: 2,075 (12th)Why he will advance: The closer knows how to get it done.Why he wont: This team certainly isnt immune to bad pit stops, mechanical failures and a fuel-mileage miscalculation.3. Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs Racing No. 18 ToyotaFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,125 (2nd)Why he will advance: This team is quietly running well. Wait, that was last years comment at this time. Still works.Why he wont: There always is a chance of getting caught up in a mess at Talladega, and no one knows that better than Busch, who in 2014 seemed comfortably in the semifinal round only to get turned from behind while running in the back.4. Matt KensethJoe Gibbs Racing No. 20 ToyotaFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,114 (4th)Why he will advance: Kenseth is determined not to have a repeat of 2015. And he has a better chance to win Talladega than a year ago.Why he wont: This team has been streaky this year with three or four top-10 races and then three-race stretches outside the top-10. He posted top-10 finishes in each race of the first round.5. Joey LoganoTeam Penske No. 22 FordFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,108 (5th)Why he will advance: He wont do anything to beat himself.Why he wont: Ford is just not there this year.6. Chase ElliottHendrick Motorsports No. 24 ChevroletFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,106 (6th)Why he will advance: He didnt crack under the pressure of the first round, so no reason to think he will this round. He had top-10s at Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega earlier this year.Why he wont: Sometimes experience matters, and in this situation, it does.7. Brad KeselowskiTeam Penske No. 2 FordFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,125 (3rd)Why he will advance: He knows when to make the move he needs at the critical moment.Why he wont:?He thinks he knows when to make the move he needs at the critical moment -- and it costs him.8. Kurt BuschStewart-Haas Racing No. 41 ChevroletFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,093 (10th)Why he will advance: Busch has a way of getting the job done when you dont think he will.Why he wont: This team has not seemed to capture the strength and speed that Harvick has.9. Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing No. 11 ToyotaFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,103 (8th)Why he will advance: Hes done it twice before.Why he wont: You might think the Daytona 500 winner would have an advantage at Talladega, but he finished 31st and 17th, respectively, in the two restrictor-plate races since that big win.10. Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs Racing No. 19 ToyotaFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,095 (9th)Why he will advance: Edwards and crew chief Dave Rogers have enough experience to rebound from a poor first round.Why he wont: Because of their experience, Edwards and Rogers will out-think themselves and tune themselves out of races.11. Jimmie JohnsonHendrick Motorsports No. 48 ChevroletFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,105 (7th)Why he will advance: He has returned pretty much to form, having led 208 laps in the first round.Why he wont: The team beat itself twice in the first round and recovered. It wont be so easy in this round to overcome errors.12. Austin DillonRichard Childress Racing No. 3 ChevroletFirst-round wins: 0First-round points: 2,085 (11th)Why he will advance: Sometimes destiny just goes your way.Why he wont: Hasnt had the performance necessary to show he will be in the top eight. My latest Big Board for the 2017 NFL draft is up, and so are my updated position rankings. This is the first one with seniors and underclassmen combined.One asterisk denotes a junior, and two asterisks denote a redshirt sophomore for the 2016 season.Quarterbacks1. *Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina 2. *Deshaun Watson, Clemson 3. **DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame 4. *Brad Kaaya, Miami (Fla.) 5. *Luke Falk, Washington State 6. *Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech 7. C.J. Beathard, Iowa 8. *Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech 9. *Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State 10.dddddddddddd. *Baker Mayfield, OklahomaI wrote in my updated Big Board about why Trubisky has moved up to No. 1. Kizer has all the tools to be an NFL starter, but the 17 interceptions over two seasons are worrisome. Check out the numbers in the duel Saturday night between Mahomes and Mayfield. It was like they were passing against ghosts. ' ' '