Why New College Football Playoff Seeding Format Bothers Oregon Ducks Fans

Under the new seeding process, the top-four teams in the selection committee's final rankings get a first-round bye to the quarterfinals of the CFP. Last season, the four highest-ranked conference champions earned the bye regardless of where those teams were ranked by the selection committee.

If the straight-seeding model was utilized last season, Oregon would not have faced the eventual National Champion Ohio State until the national championship game. As 13-0 Big Ten champions, Oregon still would have earned the No. 1 seed but would have played the winner of Indiana and Boise State instead of the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.

It wasn't just Oregon fans who were upset with the Ducks' path through the playoff last season.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who is widely considered one of the greatest coaches of all time, was also bothered.

"If I was an Oregon fan, I have to say this because this kind of bothers me, and you're the 13-0 No. 1 seed, and you've got to play Ohio State in the first round... I'm not an Internet guy, but if I was an Oregon fan, I'd be on the Internet screaming about that," Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show.

Oregon and Ohio State were arguably the best two teams in college football last season and to face each other so early in the playoff seemed unfair to many.

Ohio State cruised to a 41-21 win over Oregon, ruining the Ducks' chances at a National Championship and avenging a regular season defeat from Oct. 12 in Autzen Stadium.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning wasn't interested in blaming the seeding or bye for the Ducks' early playoff exit.

“We had an opportunity. We didn't take advantage of the opportunity. I'm not going to make excuses for our opportunity,” said Lanning about Oregon's rematch with Ohio State.

"I think that’s an excuse," Lanning said. "I thought our guys prepared well going in. Obviously, they had a better plan than us. But that’s an excuse. That’s an opportunity that we had to recharge. I thought our guys did practice well. I’d tell you if that wasn’t the case. I thought they had a great focus. I just don’t think our plan was good enough. I think they had a great plan to attack us. So credit to those guys."

Interestingly enough, the top four seeds who received first-round byes last season - Oregon, Boise State, Georgia Bulldogs and Arizona State Sun Devils - all lost their opening games in the quarterfinals against opponents coming off wins the previous week.

As the 12-team bracket continues to find what works, more change could be on the horizon. The 12-team expanded playoff model's contract ends after the 2025 season and there are rumors of adding teams to make the bracket 14 or 16 teams.