Dan Lanning Opens Up About Unfair College Football Playoff Schedule

Dan Lanning, coach of the Oregon Ducks, has a not-so-favorable opinion of the scheduling of College Football Playoff games. Under the 12-team format, the playoff does not have regularly-scheduled games. The first round of the CFP took place over last weekend while the next round takes place two weeks later during New Years Eve and Day. This schedule means the four teams with a bye in the first round have not played since Dec. 1-7 in the conference championship games. Let’s take a look at Dan Lanning’s comments about the situation.

Dan Lanning Discusses CFP Schedule

While speaking to the media ahead of the Orange Bowl, Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning discussed how he is not a fan of how the College Football Playoff schedule is.

“In my opinion, we’re really excited to be going to the Orange Bowl, but this game should be played at Texas Tech. “They’re the higher-seeded team. We should play a week, like right after the first game, the next game should be the next Saturday and the next playoff game should be the next Saturday then a championship game. We’re trying to fit a lot of things in a different sequence. But in my opinion, this game should be played at Tech. It should be a home-field advantage for them. But I know their fans will travel, our fans will travel and we’re really excited to be playing in the Orange Bowl.”

However, Lanning is not allowing this to be an excuse for the team after losing in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals last season after being the No. 1 seed.

“There’s definitely a skill and an art to making sure that your team is prepared when you have long breaks. I think that was clear last year. Certainly, it’ll be clear now. You’ve got a little bit more time to prepare now, obviously, than you did the last one. That’s the other part that doesn’t make sense is the sequence of days in between each game. There just really isn’t a rhythm. For us as a coach, it’s about how do you create that rhythm? How do you say, ‘Ok, how do we keep things the same as much as possible for our players.’ It’s tough when you have big gaps and breaks like that. But I know that it’s a sided advantage for one team or the other. You’re dealing with different issues.”

It is going to be intriguing to see how the Oregon Ducks look for as they prepare to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals on New Year’s Day.