Dan Lanning would have never lost the plot like Josh Heupel is doing with Tennessee

It is not everything, but it is most certainly something... While the Oregon Ducks did benefit from the College Football Playoff expanding from four teams to 12, we do not see head coach Dan Lanning openly advocating for even more expansion. He knows that his program, for better or worse, will routinely be above the cut line in the 12-team format. Josh Heupel wishes that were the case for his...

Shamefully, he admitted to On3's Chris Low he would be in favor over playoff expansion to 24 teams...

"The way college football is constantly changing, that probably makes the most sense."

For a coach who leads an SEC blue-blood that has made the playoff recently, this is embarrassing.

This would be like a person who has bowled a perfect game before requesting for the bumpers to be put up. What are we even doing here?! Furthermore, this just goes to show that Lanning is not afraid of a little competition. Oregon leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten could have put the Ducks behind the eight ball. Instead, Lanning's program has embraced these challenges head-on and have benefited.

Tennessee needs to get on Oregon's level, just like the Ducks do not need to embrace mediocrity...

Josh Heupel just proved Dan Lanning is the ideal head coach for Oregon

Surely, anything Lanning would say about this could conceivably be held against him. That would be the case for pretty much any top-10 head coach in the sport today. While Lanning has opted to be the one to take Oregon to new heights as a football program, we do know he has strong ties to both Alabama and Georgia. All things equal, those are easier programs to win national championsihps at.

However, we have heard over the last few years since Lanning took over in Eugene that he wants to stay here for a long time, possibly for the duration of his coaching career. Up to this point, he has earned the right to stay for as long as he would like. That can all change over the course of a season... Thankfully, Lanning has never been the type of guy to run away from competition. He runs toward it.

So as we get into the heart of the college football offseason, how far off-base is this thought? Oregon feels way more likely to go undefeated next season and win the national championship with Dante Moore bringing home the Heisman than Tennessee is even making the playoff. These are not mutually exclusive entities, as both could very well happen. However, one team is a power, but the other is not.

Oregon is more likely to remain a top-10 program than it is for Tennessee to get on its level just yet.