This year’s College Football Playoff bracket was revealed Sunday morning, and not everyone was happy with the results.
Oregon was unsurprisingly seeded No. 1 and earned a first-round bye, but beyond that, the Ducks arguably face a more difficult path to the championship than No. 6 Penn State. Oregon beat the Nittany Lions, 45-37, in the Big Ten championship game Saturday night to cap off its flawless 13-0 season. However, after their bye, the Ducks will play a team with a higher rank than any of Penn State’s opponents on their respective roads to the title.
Oregon will play either Ohio State or Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, who are ranked No. 6 and No. 7 in the country respectively. On the other side of the bracket, Penn State will have to beat No. 11-seeded SMU before taking on Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl—the Broncos are seeded No. 3 in the playoffs but ranked No. 9.
Oregon’s Big Ten title is why they were able to secure the No. 1 seed, and a first-round bye with it, but because both Arizona State and Boise State were seeded well ahead of their ranking thanks to their own conference titles, the rest of the field below them got shuffled, resulting in the Ducks being dealt a pretty brutal hand.
Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt ripped into the CFP committee for giving Oregon what he believed was a much more difficult postseason schedule.
“What a horrendous job this committee did...The team that was penalized the most was @oregonfootball and the team that was rewarded the most was @PennStateFball...I guess the Ducks should have laid down in the 4th...Just atrocious,” Klatt wrote on X.
What a horrendous job this committee did...The team that was penalized the most was @oregonfootball and the team that was rewarded the most was @PennStateFball...I guess the Ducks should have laid down in the 4th...Just atrocious
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 8, 2024
Klatt added that an easy fix in the CFP format would be to re-seed teams after the first round to reward those who put together the best regular seasons.
The Ducks may not have gotten the most favorable draw in the wake of their dominant 2024 campaign, but their one-week bye should at least prove valuable come New Year’s Day.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joel Klatt Blasts College Football Playoff Committee for ‘Atrocious’ Selections.
