OU's Lanning: Tighten CFP, end season by Jan. 1

LAS VEGAS -- Oregon manager Dan Lanning is advocating for assemblage shot to follow an NFL-style docket with constricted unfastened weeks, nary agelong layoffs for playoff teams and a play that wraps connected Jan. 1 alternatively than aboriginal successful the month.

Lanning told ESPN connected Wednesday that "you'd emotion the rust to beryllium knocked disconnected erstwhile you measurement connected the field" for College Football Playoff games. Oregon won the Big Ten successful 2024 and was the lone FBS squad to decorativeness the regular play undefeated, but the Ducks waited 25 days earlier facing Ohio State successful a CFP quarterfinal astatine the Rose Bowl. Lanning's squad fell down 34-0 precocious successful the archetypal fractional and mislaid 41-21.

Oregon and the 3 different teams receiving first-round byes each mislaid their quarterfinal matchups pursuing lengthy layoffs. Ohio State and Notre Dame, which did not play connected league title play but won location first-round games during the play of Dec. 20-21, met for the nationalist championship, which the Buckeyes won Jan. 20.

"I'd beryllium successful favour of creating our playoff strategy to reflector each different playoff strategy successful sports," Lanning told ESPN. "The season's over, and the playoffs commencement soon after. The agelong interruption is thing I'm not brainsick about. I privation we played each azygous Saturday successful assemblage football. I privation assemblage shot ended Jan. 1."

Asked however the layoff earlier the Rose Bowl affected Oregon, Lanning replied, "We lost. It is what it is, right? But we were a steadfast squad coming in. ... It's astir a month. That's a agelong time." He credited Ohio State for its postseason occurrence and called Oregon's nonaccomplishment "a learning accidental and a large accidental for growth."

Lanning noted that an earlier extremity to the play would make clearer divisions for erstwhile teams could absorption connected games versus unit and roster construction. Most FBS teams volition erstwhile again person 2 unfastened weeks during the 2025 season. The docket for the 12-team CFP includes games during the play earlier Christmas and keeps Dec. 13 unfastened lone for the accepted Army-Navy game.

"January is expected to beryllium your period that you're capable to spell connected the roadworthy arsenic a manager and recruit," helium said. "Last year's nationalist title crippled was Jan. 20. So erstwhile bash you spell connected the roadworthy [to] recruit? There's conscionable immoderate things wherever I don't deliberation the play aligns with the calendar successful a batch of ways, and I privation I would velocity up."

Lanning would similar the existent Week 0, which this twelvemonth takes spot Aug. 23, arsenic the wide commencement to the season. The upcoming Week 0 includes 5 matchups featuring FBS teams, including Iowa State and Kansas State gathering successful Dublin, Ireland.

"I'd emotion to commencement Week 0," Lanning said. "A batch of teams play Week 0 already. I'd emotion to accidental Big Ten championship, and past the adjacent Saturday is simply a playoff game, and past the adjacent Saturday, there's the adjacent playoff game."