The Oregon Ducks kept their CFP hopes alive with a decisive 42-27 win over the Trojans. Even with key offensive players sidelined, the Ducks found ways to win in style. But while Ducks’ HC Dan Lanning praised his team, he also turned the spotlight on the SEC and how its scheduling advantages influence the College Football Playoff rankings.

“I think proof’s in the pudding. Right? We played a good team. We beat them, right? All we can do next week is try to do the same thing,” said Lanning, on his appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys. Then the Ducks HC weighed in on the strength of the B1G schedule and criticized other programs for scheduling soft in Week 13.

“And this conference is a really good conference. It’s competitive, right?” he added. “We didn’t play Chattanooga State today. Like some other places. We competed. So, you know, that being said, it’s tough playing nine conference games. It’s tough playing in this league. And we got to take advantage, playing a good team today and attacking that.”

With the win over USC, Lanning’s team now sits at 10-1, with their only loss coming against Indiana. Although their current No. 7 CFP ranking was based on a 9-1 record. But now, for Lanning, the climb should only continue. And the reason is the strength of the schedule.

Beating USC added another stamp to a resume already featuring PSU, Iowa, and more. Besides, out-of-conference games in Week 13 also play a role. While Georgia (ranked No. 4), OSU (No. 1), Notre Dame (No. 9), Texas A&M (No. 3), and Alabama cruised past unranked teams, Oregon took on real smoke, playing against the Trojans.

Here’s where he made the bold take on the CFP committee directly. “Well, we just played a really good team. We’d be in a lot of times. We play really good teams that become unranked all of a sudden,” said the Oregon HC. “That’s not our fault, right? Maybe it is our fault, but all we’re worried about is playing the teams that we play and doing the job that we need to do. And we did that job today.”

If the strength of schedule matters, Oregon should be locked in, according to Lanning. It also seems Lanning was hinting at some uncertainty in the committee’s decisions, especially when it comes to SEC rankings. In his eyes, several SEC teams played soft schedules this week. Does such a comment at this moment bring risk?

Maybe not. In Oregon’s case, the committee has already recognized the Ducks’ strength.

“Oregon, while their strength of schedule metric may not be as strong as an Oklahoma, we felt like they are a very strong team on both sides of the ball,” said CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek. “Offensively and defensively, they rank in the top 10 of most of the statistical categories that we use, in comparison to other teams.”

Now that strength showed up again in the win over the Trojans.

Oregon’s performance against USC

On Saturday, Oregon walked into a high-stakes elimination showdown, and the Ducks got a victory against USC, keeping their their playoff pulse alive. Against the Trojans, Malik Benson’s electric 85-yard punt return flipped momentum early. From that moment on, Oregon never played from behind. While the offense hummed, the defense punched back. Despite that, USC tried swinging late, cutting the gap to one score in the fourth.

But Oregon slammed the door with a Noah Whittington TD and a defensive stand that iced the game. Now, the path to the playoffs is simple on paper. Beat Washington and hope Michigan takes down OSU. Still, it’s a waiting game for Dan Lanning’s squad.

The team ranks 7th in scoring offense with 39.0 PPG in FBS, while Oregon’s defense ranks 3rd with 235.4 YPG. With such strength on both sides of the ball, it seems they can win the remaining games. But now it comes down to what the CFP committee decides once the rest of the regular-season chaos settles.

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