"We're in a unique spot in college sports": Dan Lanning gets real about major challenge in college football schedule heading into 2025

Dan Lanning and Oregon suffered a huge heartbreak in the College Football Playoff despite finishing the season with a perfect record. They lost to the eventual national champions, Ohio State, in the CFP quarterfinal.

The team was in full control throughout the season, taking down all the Big Ten opponents and non-conference games while also clinching their Big Ten conference championship title in the first season.

However, things went south when Oregon came back to the field after a brief period of 25 days. Lanning wants this to be changed since it breaks the momentum. While speaking to the "First Things First" panelists from Sin City during the Big Ten Media Days, Lanning shared his playoff experience.

It was the first year of the expanded 12-team playoff, where the conference champions earned the first-round bye. Instead of becoming a virtue and providing sufficient time to regroup, it backfired.

The team significantly lost its momentum. In fact, all the teams that earned the first-round bye lost in the playoffs. Lanning mentioned that there should be little time to recalibrate after the conference championships.

“If you look at the four teams that had a bye, all four lost, and I think there is something about staying in rhythm,” Lanning said on Wednesday. (Timestamp: 5:40).

“I think we're in a unique spot in college sports, where we're actually trying to juggle keeping both games alive and going to a playoff. And the reality in my mind is every other playoff system that exists when the season's over, next week's the bye, the next week after that's the next game.

"So, I would love that model. I'd love for college football to end a little bit sooner, but those are all excuses. We had an opportunity to go out there and perform on the field. We didn't, but ultimately, I feel like everybody's been doing playoffs for a long time."

Dan Lanning looks forward to cultivating new rivalries in the Big Ten

The conference realignment of 2023 triggered a massive power shift in the entirety of college football, where the Big Ten and SEC became dominant leagues. Oregon's transition from the Pac-12 was viewed as a massive challenge to adapt and win games against top programs in the league. But Dan Lanning and Co. pulled off a perfect season effortlessly.

While speaking to "First Things First" on Wednesday, Lanning mentioned that already they have two opponents, Washington and Oregon State, with whom they foster a long-standing rivalry. However, in the years to come, he hopes other programs will want to maintain a similar relationship with his team.

Programs like Ohio State and Penn State are already on the path where Oregon is slowly becoming a powerhouse in the league. Expect nothing less than 12-win season from the Ducks in 2025.