USC fans love that Oregon lost, but Ducks never should have played Ohio State

The first season with the 12-team College Football Playoff marks a new era for college football. To an extent, it was hard to realize everything that would be different and challenging about this format and this process.

Not every problem could be addressed at once. The process needed to unfold to be properly understood. We can now make reforms for the future.

However, some parts of this process should have and could have been dealt with in real time. Some components of this 12-team playoff shouldn’t have been hard to figure out. One obvious part: The No. 1 seed and the only unbeaten team in the playoff should get an easier draw than other teams. Instead, No. 1 and unbeaten Oregon football lost to No. 8 seed Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

USC football fans love that Oregon lost. The Trojans don’t want to be overshadowed by Dan Lanning in recruiting, so any Lanning loss is good for USC. Yet, as great as it is that Oregon lost, we can still be honest and real about this. We can admit — we’re adults — that Oregon should not have played Ohio State in the quarterfinals.

We already dealt with another flaw of the 12-team playoff, specifically, the loss of meaning for conference championship games. Oregon was part of this story. There were certain structures and rules of a college football season that required adjustments, but no one seemed to understand the need for those changes before the season began.

No one seemed to be thinking ahead or preparing in advance. Basic things such as the No. 1 seed getting the best draw — as a reward for being the No. 1 seed and having the best regular season — should not have been neglected. Yet, it plainly was.

Let’s talk more about how the 12-team College Football Playoff needs to be changed so that what happened to Oregon will not happen to the next No. 1 seed. We can enjoy that Oregon lost, but we are grownups, and we realize it was unfair to the Ducks to make them play what most football experts acknowledge is the most talented team in the country, the Buckeyes.

Let’s explore real reform in the College Football Playoff:

BRACKETING 101

It’s such a basic part of constructing a multiround tournament in any sport: The higher the seed, the easier the bracket path should be. Teams get rewarded for being higher seeds — having better regular seasons or overall rankings — and should therefore face harder brackets if they are lower seeds. It’s very simple. Oregon was the top seed, the only unbeaten team in the regular season, and yet the Ducks got what was clearly the toughest, most difficult quarterfinal opponent. This never should have happened.

PENN STATE VERSUS OREGON

Penn State was the No. 6 seed in this College Football Playoff. Oregon was the No. 1 seed.

Penn State played SMU and Boise State. Oregon played Ohio State. We can all see the problem here.

PENN STATE PART TWO

Penn State lost the Big Ten Championship Game to Oregon. We know it’s important to not punish teams for losing the conference title game, but the committee overreacted. We also have to reward the teams that win the conference championship games. Oregon was not rewarded. Oregon was forced to play Ohio State.

SEEDING AND BRACKETING SIMPLY WERE NOT GOOD IN THE 2024-2025 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

Much like the NCAA Tournament, the College Football Playoff committee did not pay close enough attention to seeding and bracketing. One obvious area for reform is to no longer award automatic first-round byes to conference champions. Just rank the 12 teams and go about creating the bracket.

How to create the bracket? That’s next:

MADE FOR TV COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SPECIAL

Here’s the best idea for how to create the bracket: The top four seeds (determined by the committee) get to choose the 5-12 seeds they want to play in the quarterfinals. So, Oregon — as the No. 1 seed — would get first pick of any of the eight 5-12 seeds it wants to play. The No. 2 seed gets second pick, the No. 3 seed gets third pick, and the No. 4 seed gets fourth pick. Then the top four seeds pick the remaining four seeds. The No. 1 seed gets to choose its preferred opponents, and the other top seeds get secondary choices.

Imagine this being a made-for-TV special on the first or second Sunday of December. It would be incredible television.

NCAA TOURNAMENT FLAVOR

American sports fans get very excited about the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal on the selection show in March. If teams picked their opponents in the College Football Playoff, the sport of college football would create its own fresh excitement around the selection show. This is definitely something that would enhance the national popularity of college football. It would be the ultimate discussion point.

BIG BENEFIT OF THIS PLAN

The obvious benefit of having the teams pick their College Football Playoff opponents and create their own bracket — in addition to rewarding the No. 1 seed (such as Oregon football) for having the best regular season — is that it removes the possibility of ESPN pulling the strings and creating a conspiracy theory. This puts everything in the hands of the teams themselves, once the 12 teams are ranked 1-12.

ESPN might have influence on how the rankings come out, but it can’t influence what choice a team — the coach and players (maybe with some input from the athletic director) — ultimately makes.

This would have been fair to the Oregon Ducks. It will be fair to future No. 1 seeds in future editions of the College Football Playoff.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC fans love that Oregon lost, but Ducks never should have played Ohio State