Oregon Ducks 'screwed' by CFP committee, Fox Sports analyst says
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The unbeaten Oregon football squad earned the top spot in the final College Football Playoff rankings after winning the Big Ten Championship on Saturday. However, multiple college football experts believe the Ducks did not get properly rewarded for their historically successful regular season.
Joel Klatt, Fox Sports top college football analyst, blasted the CFP committee, claiming they did a "horrendous" job with their selections.
"Congratulations, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks, you got absolutely screwed by the playoff committee, because their sentiment of trying to create artificial floors rose some of these teams to the levels where they shouldn't be. That's the problem," Klatt said. "The reward for going 13-0 and having the best regular season in all of college football, which is supposed to be the most valuable regular season in all of sports, the reward for that is having to play the three highest odds team to win the National Championship. They're going to have to go through, possibly, Ohio State, Texas, and Georgia to win the National Championship."
While Oregon defeated Penn State 45-37 in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, pundits argued that the Nittany Lions were rewarded for losing and that they have the easiest path to the CFP semifinals. Although they don't have a bye in the first round like Oregon, Penn State will host 11-seeded SMU on Dec. 21. If they win, they will take on the third-seeded Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve.
According to DraftKings, Penn State is a nine-point favorite to defeat SMU in their first matchup and would be a 12.5-point favorite against Boise State if they advance.
CBS Sports college football analyst Josh Pate shared Klatt's frustration with how teams were selected.
"The format is pathetic. The criteria is pathetic," Pate said. "Since you have an auto-bye process in the format, you end up semi-penalizing your Big Ten Championship game-winner in Oregon…Penn State is in the most advantageous position out of anyone who made this playoff.
"Penn State has a waterslide in front of them to the semifinals, basically," Pate added. "If you made the playoff bracket for yourself, and you were Penn State, how would you set it up any differently?"
Despite the perceived difficult path that Oregon faces, the Ducks are still the odds-on favorite to win the National Title according to most major sportsbooks.
Oregon will play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Tennessee-Ohio State game, which will be played on Dec. 21.