Oregon’s fantastic season came to a sad end on New Year’s Day when the eighth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes entered the Rose Bowl and scored the first 34 points.
The Ducks finished the regular season 13-0 and won the Big Ten, which earned them the number one seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye. However, because of the horrible playoff bracket, they had to play the best team in the country.
Oregon Shouldn’t Have Met Ohio State In The Second Round
While Penn State, the team that lost to Oregon in the Big Ten title game, got to play SMU and Boise State in the first two rounds, the Ducks were forced to play Ohio State.
Everyone has been saying that Oregon shouldn’t play the Buckeyes in the second round, and Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt has not been happy about the Ducks’ seeding since the playoffs were announced a month ago.
Even though Oregon lost 41-21 to Ohio State, Klatt is still mad about the second-round matchup and stated, “The Oregon Ducks got absolutely hosed.”
“The Oregon Ducks got absolutely hosed.” 😅@joelklatt says the one team that deserved the most favorable draw in the playoff actually got the worst draw in the playoff – and that’s not right. 🤔🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/RyUfX3SFLi
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) January 2, 2025
Klatt is correct that the seeding hosed the Ducks, but the playoffs are to blame for allowing conference champions to get automatic byes.
Boise State and Arizona State are nowhere close to one of the Top Four teams in the country, but because they won their conference, they got a first-round bye, pushing the best teams in the sport down the list.
If it were an actual format, Ohio State would probably have been a fifth seed and wouldn’t have seen Oregon until the semi-finals.
It didn’t matter because the Buckeyes were on a mission, and Oregon had no business winning the game.
