Dan Lanning expresses disapproval of the SEC's scheduling practices.

Jason Jones

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Dan Lanning criticizes SEC scheduling image

TL;DR

  • Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning criticized the SEC's "cupcake week" scheduling.
  • Lanning highlighted SEC teams playing weak opponents in week 13, near playoff time.
  • He contrasted this with his team competing against a good opponent.
  • Lanning believes scheduling weak teams is illogical in a playoff system.

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning expressed his disapproval of the SEC's 'cupcake week'. Lanning used approximately twenty words during his Saturday press conference to criticize the SEC's easy bye week during the season's thirteenth week.

Considering just week 13 and just the SEC, this is a list of some of the games that were scheduled and played during a playoff stretch run. No. 3 Texas A&M vs Samford (48-0), No. 4 Georgia vs Charlotte (35-3), No. 10 Alabama vs Eastern Illinois (56-0), Auburn vs Mercer (62-17), South Carolina vs Coastal Carolina (51-7), and LSU vs Western Kentucky (13-10 which is the only outlier).

As college football moves into new territory (ie NIL, transfer portal, etc) certain aspects need to change. As storied programs are about to discover, budgets now carry more weight than a history of winning.

Given that athletes now receive NIL compensation, their amateur status is no longer applicable. Lanning might concur with one of the resulting shifts: the scheduling practices of prominent programs. Within the context of a college football playoff system, arranging games against weak opponents is illogical.  

"This conference is a really good conference," Lanning told reporters. "It's competitive, right? We didn't play Chattanooga State today like some other places. We competed. That being said, it's tough playing nine conference games. It's tough playing in this league. We got to take advantage of playing a good team today and attacking that."

While matchups like No. 14 Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky, No. 17 Texas vs. Arkansas, and No. 20 Tennessee vs. Florida are perfectly acceptable as SEC contests, there's no sensible justification for The Aggies to face Samford or for Auburn to play Mercer, especially within the context of a college football playoff scenario.

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Staff Writer