The College Football Playoff debate is a chicken with its head freshly chopped. With the final bracket released, those teams snubbed and excluded from the gentlemen's club of the top 12 had no more ground to stand on. Post the stats, boycott the postseason entirely, or take your ball and go home (the Notre Dame way), but what's done is done. This bracket is final.
Related: ESPN is phasing BYU football out of the College Football Playoff conversation
But Dan Lanning, just because it's over doesn't mean the wound isn't still fresh. Oregon's head coach was recently quoted as saying those teams snubbed from the final bracket simply should have won more football games. That it was those teams' failure to meet the almighty standards of Oregon football.
"Anybody that's complaining that they're not in," Lanning blurted. "That means they didn't win enough. It's your fault if you didn't make it."
Dan Lanning thinks the playoff complainers should look in the mirror 👀 pic.twitter.com/1EU23UPXoT
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 11, 2025
He must have never heard of BYU, the Big 12 Conference member from Provo, Utah, that shares the Ducks' win total of 11, yet sits seven spots below Oregon in the final College Football Playoff rankings. If what Lanning claims is true, wouldn't it stand to reason that an 11-win P4 team should share a similar standing with that of 11-win Big Ten representative, Oregon, in the final rankings?
I've already beaten this dead horse into oblivion, but if I must spell it out for you once more, I'll do it: Oregon's resume actually weaker than BYU's, and the Cougars likewise finished the regular season with an 11-1 record. The difference between these teams? BYU's only losses of the year came in two matchups with 4th-ranked Texas Tech, both essentially road games. Oregon lost at home to top-ranked Indiana.
Oregon's best wins, in order: 16 USC (9-3), 23 Iowa (8-4)
BYU's best wins, in order: 15 Utah (10-2), 18 Arizona (9-3)
Advantage, BYU.
Oregon's resume: 11-1 record (did not qualify for CCG), 5th SOR, 19th SOS
BYU's resume: 11-2 record (11-1 regular season, Big 12 CCG), 9th SOR, 22nd SOS
Advantage, Oregon.
One could argue that these two teams are incredibly comparable to this point in the year. Leaning towards one team or the other, I could see arguments for both sides.
But for Dan Lanning to state that teams outside the playoff missed out because of their win total is pure garbage. The Playoff currently houses three 10-win at-large teams (Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami), and has a four-team gap between BYU and the nearest 11-win team. BYU is the only 11-win P4 team to be absent from the final bracket, and the only 11-win P4 team to ever be absent from the 12-team playoff.
Giant brands across the nation, like the Oregon Ducks, will get the benefit of the doubt. The "rules for thee, but not for me" mentality is nothing new to the world of college football. So please, Dan Lanning, tell us all about how teams like BYU simply "didn't win enough" this year.