Oregon coach Dan Lanning delivered a pointed critique of SEC scheduling practices during his Saturday press conference. The Ducks’ head coach took aim at what he sees as soft scheduling by conference rivals during playoff push time.
Lanning needed just twenty words to torch the SEC’s approach to week 13 matchups.
“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.”
Dan Lanning shared his thoughts on other CFB teams playing less competitive games this week pic.twitter.com/M0cqzTryol
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The numbers back up Lanning’s frustration. Week 13 SEC scheduling included several mismatches that raised eyebrows.
No. 3 Texas A&M demolished Samford 48-0. No. 4 Georgia crushed Charlotte 35-3. No. 10 Alabama rolled over Eastern Illinois 56-0.
Auburn handled Mercer 62-17. South Carolina beat Coastal Carolina 51-7. LSU managed just a 13-10 win over Western Kentucky in the only competitive game of the group.
Those results stand in contrast to legitimate SEC matchups. No. 14 Vanderbilt faced Kentucky. No. 17 Texas played Arkansas. No. 20 Tennessee took on Florida.
College football’s landscape has shifted dramatically with NIL and the transfer portal changing how programs operate. Players earn revenue now. They can’t be viewed as amateurs anymore.
Budgets carry more weight than tradition for many programs.
In this new playoff era, Lanning argues that scheduling cupcakes doesn’t make sense for top programs. Not when playoff positioning matters this much.
The SEC’s approach to week 13 scheduling highlights a broader issue in college football. How do conferences balance tradition with competitive integrity during crucial stretches?
Oregon plays nine conference games in the Big Ten. That’s a different challenge than what SEC teams face with their scheduling flexibility.
