Nick Saban Upset With Oregon Ducks' Unfair College Football Playoff Path vs. Ohio State

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who is widely considered one of the greatest coaches of all time, is upset with the Oregon Ducks' College Football Playoff path as the No. 1 seed. The Oregon Ducks and coach Dan Lanning lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning and former Alabama coach nick Saban / Imagn

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who is widely considered one of the greatest coaches of all time, is upset with the Oregon Ducks' College Football Playoff seeding.

"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 Ducks coach Dan Lanning and former Alabama coach nick Saban / Imagn

After winning the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Penn State, the No. 1 Oregon Ducks secured the first 13-0 start in program history and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff and a berth in the Rose Bowl Game.

Oregon's reward for a perfect regular season? The Ducks faced the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CFP quarterfinals on New Year's Day in Pasadena. Oregon and Ohio State are arguably the best two teams in college football this season and to fave 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.

Jan 1, 2025; Pasadena, CA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day holds up the Rose Bowl championship trophy after defeating the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Oregon and coach Dan Lanning had 24 days between the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl, an interesting challenge for the undefeated Ducks.

However, Lanning took full responsibility and blame for the loss, reiterating there was no excuses for the Rose Bowl defeat.

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“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.

What about the challenge of the long wait time between Oregon's games?

"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."

Lanning was clearly focused on what he could control with a great attitude about the opportunity for Oregon. Many others, however, have questioned the CFP format and feel that Oregon got the short end of the stick, including FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt.

Some CFP thoughts
- @rosebowlgame is so special
- @OhioStateFB is overwhelmingly good
- @oregonfootball got hosed with this format
- That was 100% targeting
- @TexasFootball has to figure their offense out

— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) January 2, 2025

When the 12-team bracket was established in early December, Lanning joined College Football Playoff Selection show to talk about Oregon's path.

"An opportunity, right?" Lanning said. "In our world, we always talk about red light, green light. Focus on the things you can control, right? That's what we're gonna focus on. And winning a national championship isn't supposed to be easy. You can ask coach Nick Saban. It's not supposed to be easy. So if our path's a little bit tougher, kudos to us if we go through it and take care of business."

Dec 7, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks celebrate defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten Championship in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Ducks are 35-6 under coach Dan Lanning since the start of 2022 and have improved each year with 10 wins in 2022, 12 wins in 2023 and now an FBS-best 13 wins in 2024. Oregon had won 14 consecutive games after closing the 2023 season with a win in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, which was the nation’s longest active winning streak.

Ohio State will now advance to the College Football Playoff Semifinals in Arlington, Texas, to play the Texas Longhorns at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

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