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I'd prefer a sixteen team playoff with a sixteen team NIT playoff. Dan's format for home games and schedule that ends around New Year's Day. I'd also suggest that first round losers be eligible for bowl games if those still end up being a thing. I think an NIT tournament would be cool so the rest of the country could be included in the fun and not just be for the same ten teams every year with a few sacrificial lambs thrown in.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2026 FOOTBALL | @OregonFootball Lanning Promotes Hampton, Mehringer To Coordinator Roles EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon football head coach Dan Lanning announced the promotions of Chris Hampton to defensive coordinator and Drew Mehringer to offensive coordinator on Thursday. Hampton just completed his third season at Oregon, serving as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Mehringer was the Ducks’ co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach and has been with Lanning for all four of his seasons in Eugene. Hampton and Mehringer helped the Ducks to a 13-2 season in 2025 that ended with a trip to the College Football Playoff Semifinal, including a win at the CFP Quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. “Chris and Drew have been tremendous coaches and leaders since joining our program and are more than deserving of taking these next steps in their careers,” Lanning said. “They have each done an unbelievable job of helping our student-athletes excel both on and off the field. We are thrilled to be able to promote them to our coordinator roles and maintain the momentum we have created as a program and a coaching staff.” Hampton has played a key role in some of the most dominant defensive seasons in program history, joining the Ducks after leading a remarkable defensive turnaround in two years as Tulane’s defensive coordinator. Since Hampton arrived in 2023, Oregon is seventh nationally in scoring defense (17.9 PPG) and eighth in passing defense (185.9 YPG). UO is also No. 10 among FBS teams in that span in opponent completion percentage (56.6) and No. 7 in opponent passer rating (113.4). “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to be the defensive coordinator at the University of Oregon,” Hampton said. “I want to thank Coach Lanning, Rob Mullens, and the administration for their trust and belief in me. This program is built on great players and more importantly great people. I’m excited to go to work with our guys every day and compete for championships.” Hampton helped direct one of the nation’s elite passing defenses in 2025. Oregon led all FBS teams in pass breakups (73) while ranking second in passes defended (88), fourth in passing defense (157.9 YPG), fourth in opponent completion percentage (53.3) and eighth in passer rating (107.94). The 2025 Ducks rank 12th nationally in scoring defense at 17.9 points per game, allowing less than 20.0 points per game in all three seasons with Hampton on staff. It is the first time Oregon has done so in three straight years since 1978-80. UO has also been in the top 10 in pass breakups in each season since Hampton arrived, ranking eighth in 2023 (74) and ninth in 2024 (75) before leading the nation in 2025. “Coach Hampton is one of the best defensive minds in the country and a terrific leader of men,” Lanning said. “He has really poured into our program over the last three years and has played a huge role in our improvement and success on the defensive side of the ball. Chris’ ability to build relationships with current and future student-athletes is special and we are excited to have him in this role moving forward.” Defensive back Dillon Thieneman was a second-team all-American, a first-team all-Big Ten selection and a Paycom Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist in 2025 under Hampton’s guidance. Hampton also coached Jabbar Muhammad to all-Big Ten second-team honors in 2024. In addition to elite coaching on the field, Hampton has proven to be one of the nation’s most outstanding recruiters. He is the top-ranked coach in the nation in the 247Sports football recruiter rankings for 2025. Drew Mehringer Mehringer joined Lanning’s inaugural coaching staff in 2022 as tight ends coach and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator ahead of the 2025 season. He will be an offensive coordinator for the second time in his career, after becoming the youngest play caller in the Power 5 in 2016 at Rutgers. Since 2022, Oregon’s offense leads the nation in points per game (38.7), touchdowns (283), total yards (2,165) and completion percentage (73.4). In Mehringer’s first season as co-offensive coordinator in 2025, the Ducks rank tied for 10th nationally in points per game (36.9) and 17th in total yards per game (452.2). “I am very excited about the opportunity to serve as Oregon’s next offensive coordinator,” Mehringer said. “I am honored that Coach Lanning and Rob Mullens believe that I am the right person for the job and I look forward to continuing to build on what we have accomplished over the last four seasons. The plan is to continue to have one of the most dynamic offenses in college football utilizing the strong connection we have built.” Mehringer coached the most productive tight end in Oregon history in his first three seasons in Eugene, helping Terrance Ferguson become a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ferguson finished as the leading tight end in program history in career receiving touchdowns (16) and receptions (134), and he ranks second all-time in receiving yards (1,537). Kenyon Sadiq emerged as one of the top tight ends in college football under Mehringer’s guidance in 2025. Sadiq led all FBS tight ends with eight receiving touchdowns while pacing the Ducks with 51 receptions, breaking the UO single-season record for catches by a tight end. His eight receiving TDs were also just one shy of tying the Oregon record in a season by a tight end. Sadiq became the first Duck to be a finalist for the John Mackey Award, presented to the top tight end in college football, and he was named the 2025 Big Ten Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year. Sadiq was also named a second-team all-American by three different outlets in addition to earning all-Big Ten first-team honors. “Coach Mehringer has been with us from the start here at Oregon and has made a consistent impact on our program,” Lanning said. “He is an incredibly smart and innovative coach who will do a great job leading our offense and putting our student-athletes in position to succeed. Drew has earned this opportunity and I am looking forward to seeing him continue to grow as a coach and a leader.” In the 56 games since Mehringer’s arrival, Oregon tight ends have combined to catch 287 passes for 3,454 yards and 38 touchdowns.

Almost everyone. The average age of their offense is something like 22. Beyond that most of their starters are in their 4th, 5th or 6th years. They have like one sophomore starting and the rest are long time vets. They are losing pretty much their entire team.

Jon...you make a great point about how much MORE money the 24 team format will provide for all. I dislike the bye weeks for the better seeds, and wonder if we shouldn't just go to 32 teams and be done with it? Home games for the higher seeds until the semi-finals? (That would be three home playoff games for those advancing that far) My preference is for 16 teams, but the SEC wants the Playoff committee to decide most of the participants, thus the B1G will get hosed. My Duck-Buddies, I appreciate Jon giving us a short summary of the Playoff options that the commissioners will be deciding upon soon, and invite your thoughts...

Horrible reporting. It is the FCS, not D-1/FBS. Four regular season games and up to five playoff games is the same rule the FBS has . . . four regular season games plus playoffs.

What is the point? Just give everyone 5 years and eliminate redshirts, except for medical.

Wwwhhhaaaatttttt??? "Common Sense" in the new free-for-all, Wild West, Bizzarro World, profit driven, ego centric NFL-Lite????? Surely you Jest!

Payton said. “We will take our shots … We’ll definitely stretch the ball down the field. We feel like we have some guys that can go down and get it.” Oregon Ducks On SISean Payton's Words About Bo Nix Reveal His Growing TrustThe Denver Broncos and quarterback Bo Nix secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC, earning them a bye through the wild card round. Nix and the Broncos will face the B

Thanks Jon for today's article which should bring a great deal of discussion! Too bad that the NCAA doesn't run the CFP like it does for all other levels. Home games for the first two rounds would be a vast improvement for fans and a reward for teams with a good record. Making a highly ranked team travel thousands of miles cross country to a Bowl site is absurd for the early rounds. Home games this year was a good beginning. I appreciate your contributions and knowledge to OBD Forum. Thanks!

The 10 commissioners of the Power 4 and Group of 6 (G6) conferences, and the Notre Dame Athletic Director, must decide by January 23, 2026, whether to expand the College Football (CFB) Playoff (PO) field. If no agreement on expansion is reached by the 23rd, the 2026-27 PO format will remain the same; 12 teams seeded as ranked. Four Power ... What to Know About Upcoming Playoff Changes

Excellent post by Mike. I can tell by some of the responses it's gonna be a loooooong off-season. I'm arguably wiser than Dan Lanning. I'm inarguably 10 years older than him too. Stay the course with DL. He'll get there. He learns the hard way like most guys do, but he learns. Cristobal never learned anything while he was here. He looks like a drugged up spectator on the sidelines for Miami. I don't know what the boosters did to him to get him to let go of the offense and turn over clock management to someone else, but it worked. DL already has that figured out at least. We can't forget the extra level of difficulty with our distant proximity to talent that he is overcoming. I always say gratefulness is the art of lowering your standards. Aim high, but be happy where you end up. The only other option is a laundry list of bad emotions. Life's too short.

This is big news. I don't know who or how many Indiana is losing. Oregon could be the top contender in the Big 10 just based on defections. Biggest NFL defectors for Oregon are the receivers and Dillon - and they can be replaced. The biggest news is that Oregon is bringing back its entire starting D line. Each one will tweak their weakness in order to get better. Nobody really reloads anymore like Alabama and Ohio St used to do it. The portal thins out depth. I think Ohio St will take a drop in talent next season.

Honestly didn't expect him back, but wish him well.

And ... The playoff should end in early January not basically start. And signing day should be late January or just revert back to the more traditional day in February. December is madness right now.

Ok... I don't like it because of tradition... But tradition is dead. I overall like it for this reason... If a player is in a place where they would like to hit the transfer portal because of the depth chart and want to preserve their red shirt in the process they could reasonably say to their team... "Hey I want to hit the portal this off season and preserve my redshirt. I'm low on the depth chart but I still want to be committed to the team and stick it out the rest of the season and contribute whenever and wherever I can, and preserve this eligibility. Maybe even the playoff when redshirt doesn't count" The player I think of most for this is Makhi Hughes. He didn't want to lose a year of eligibility sitting behind 3 to 4 backs at Oregon but just think he could have contributed late in the season when we lost depth. More than anything it gives players incentive to buy in and not quit to preserve their redshirt. Nine games mean they have to sit for three regular season games. That is easy to plan around.

Benson MIGHT have had an additional year as he was a JC athlete apparently. He would have had to petition for it and not guaranteed. He was great this year and I wish him well.

Gary Bryant Jr. is also out of eligibility after 6 seasons. He wasn't a lights out receiver but steady and reliable when needed, I think he's good enough to at least get onto a practice squad in the NFL somewhere.

Indiana will roll. Miami keeps things interesting maybe in the first half if the game is not already over by then. I actually like Indiana and see no reason to hate them. Their poor fans endured decades upon decades of doormat football even worse than we did. I just hate that they mopped the floor with OBD on the way to the Natty.

I believe he was out of collegiate eligibility and was unable to return to OBD even if he had wanted.

Two interesting stats I saw on today's College Football Live. Behind an excellent o-line, but not a Joe Moore finalist O-line, Carson Beck has been pressured on a best in the nation 17.6% of his throws. However, when he is pressured, Beck's 73% on average completion rate falls to 49%. I expect Indiana DC Bryant Haines' defense will again show one thing before revealing another, with DL, LBs, and DBs coming at Beck from all angles. Get Beck off his spot, and mistakes happen. This is the strategy Louisville used to frustrate Beck into throwing four picks on his home field. Despite running for the Fiesta Bowl winning score, Beck is as far from a dual-threat QB as a QB can get. 3-peat, 3-peat, 3-peat!

Damn.

I was at that game too with a friend and his folks....

Agreed, it does look like things are shaping up nicely for next year. good points

I remember that well. I think there was little over one minute left when he fumbled.

Good points. Marrying great talent with great coaching is the goal. Conversely, TCU in 2022 and UW in 2023 were not elite in talent, but made it to the big game. There's always exceptions either way.