As the Oregon Ducks prepare for the 2025-26 academic year, the program is making headlines across multiple sports with new player additions, coaching hires, and calls for reform at the national level. Our own Mr. FishDuck took a break from his betting analysis study at NCAAF Odds, and NCAAF Latest News to marvel at all the positive updates surrounding Our ...

Lanning Eyes CFP Reform-Recruiting Zooms Up to No-3

Jordan Ingram I always appreciate and love to read your articles for FISHDUCK. Thank you for today's State of the Program! The Oregon Ducks Football team and Baseball team are doing super well. Thanks for the Update!

Thanks, Jordan, for the terrific article.

When discussing future PO formats, Dan also noted that one off-week a season is enough, and that the PO champ game should not be played in the middle of the NFL playoffs.

As has been suggested by many CFB 'experts', all teams should start the season in Week Zero; half are idle a week halfway through the season, with the other half idle the following week. The B1G 4-4-2-2-1-3 PO format is approved, so the champ game and two PO play-in games can be played in the last week of the regular season.

Do the above, and Dan's goal of playing the championship game on New Year's Day, or at least the semifinals played on NYD, could be realized. Played amid the NFL playoffs, last season's champ game between brand names Ohio State and Notre Dame did not draw close to the anticipated number of eyeballs. When it's CFB against the NFL, the NFL wins. IMO, sad but true.

The impasse between the B1G and the SEC on the new PO format could lead to several positive results, including a change in the CFB regular season scheduling and when the PO begins and ends. I think the media would be delighted to pay more for big-time PO games, not going up against NFL PO games.

Thanks again, Jordan, and thank goodness we are closing in on the start of the season.

With regard to bye weeks, the NCAA and the conferences should agree to the middle two weeks of the season to give half the teams in the conference a bye on the 1st of the two weeks, then the other half on the second week, that way everyone is getting rested in the middle of the season. That would be huge for player health as injuries typically happen when players muscles have been fatigued by the grind.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by Solar

I love Lanning’s playoff take. Hope it happens. I’m also down with standardized bye schedules. I felt like the BIG tried to trip up OBD with eight conference games in a row last year.

I don't think a week or maybe even a two-week bye would have hurt the Ducks. The EXTENDED bye hurt all the top four seeded teams.

The Ducks played their last regular season game on November 30 against Washington, then beat Penn State in the Championship game a week later on December 7. As the #1 seed, they got to chill out through the holiday season, and 25 days later, on January 1 they got to play in the Rose Bowl, against tOSU2.

Ohio State, a team who lost their last regular season game with Michigan, got a bye during the B1G Championship weekend, then played Tennessee on December 21, getting a 10-day bye going into the Rose Bowl. I think one long BYE hurts a team significantly more than two short byes.

Edited Friday at 09:30 PM2 days by PittDuck