The College Football Playoff has changed a lot over the years, expanding from four to 12 teams and then changing how those teams are seeded. While it may be a step closer to being perfect, it certainly isn’t there yet.
That’s a belief that Oregon Ducks‘ head coach Dan Lanning subscribes to, at least. With his team heading to the Orange Bowl on January 1 for a quarterfinal matchup against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, some flaws in the playoff structure have stood out to the fourth-year coach in Eugene. For starters, why is this game being played in Miami rather than Lubbock, giving the higher-seeded team home-field advantage?
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That’s something that Oregon got to enjoy in the first round of the playoff against James Madison, and Lanning believes it should be something that the Red Raiders get to experience next week as well.
“In my opinion, we’re really excited to be going to the Orange Bowl, but this game should be played at Texas Tech,” Lanning said on Monday. “They’re the higher-seeded team. … There should be a home-field advantage for them.”
This may be an opinion that Lanning has been sitting on for almost a year, going back to the 2024 CFP when Oregon played the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinals. Rather than that game being played at Autzen Stadium, giving the Ducks a massive home-field advantage, the game was in the Rose Bowl.
More than the location of the game, though, Lanning wants to see the actual schedule of the CFP games altered in the future. If he were the one deciding, the first round of the playoffs would be played right after conference championship games, with each round taking place a week after. If this were the case, then the National Championship Game would be played on January 3, rather than January 19, as currently scheduled.
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That schedule would also allow for more normal breaks between games, much like we have during the regular season. Instead, teams are now forced to adapt to abnormal, 10 or 11-day breaks between games, further messing with scheduling.
“The sequence of days in between each game and each playoff is just not really a rhythm,” Lanning said. “And for us as a coach, it’s about how you create that rhythm. How do you challenge yourself to say, ‘Okay, how can we keep things the same as much as possible for our players?’ And it’s tough when you have big gaps and big breaks like that.”
With all of that being said, Lanning knows that nothing is going to change this week. The schedule is the schedule, and there’s no use in hoping for it to change right away. The focus right now is on Texas Tech and getting the Ducks prepared to face one of the top teams in the nation, with a trip to the semi-finals on the line.
Regardless of where or when this game is played, the excitement for this game doesn’t change.
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“I know their fans will travel. Our fans will travel. We’re really excited to be playing the Orange Bowl.“
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks HC Dan Lanning sounds off on flawed CFP schedule
