When the new criteria for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee were announced, many fans rejoiced that a conference championship was an automatic ticket to the playoffs.
There will no longer be cases like that of the 2023 Florida State Seminoles being left out. However, as a Duck fan, all I did was sit back and read the new guidelines over and over again.
As Oregon heads to the Big Ten, will the team be able to benefit from the new 5-7 format?
The new CFP 5-7 explained
To simplify it as much as possible, two groups of teams will be selected for the College Football Playoffs next year.
The first group will be the five highest-ranked conference champions.
This goes beyond the Power-5 conferences, which will only be the Power-4 in 2024. It means that the championship team from the Mountain West Conference, American Athletic Conference, etc. could have a chance at the playoffs.
The second group of teams will be the next seven highest-ranked teams according to the selection committee’s rankings.
OFFICIAL: The CFP Board of Managers unanimously revised the qualifying criteria for the 12-team event to include the five highest-ranked conference champions plus the next seven highest-ranked teams determined by the CFP Selection Committee.https://t.co/gUSXtwr39G#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/QQRVQPFJJB
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) February 20, 2024
Oregon’s outlook for 2024
Since Oregon is moving to the Big Ten, the Ducks will be facing heavy hitters nearly all season long. Instead of having a handful of sure wins throughout conference play, the team will have to play Ohio State, Michigan, Washington, and more in just one year.
In order to even make it to the conference championship game, the Ducks will have to go nearly undefeated if not win out for the regular season.
Oregon will then have to face the best or second-best team in the conference at the Big Ten Championship.
If the Ducks can do all of that and win the conference championship, they will almost surely have an automatic spot in the playoffs.
However, if they can’t pull off that incredible season, Oregon will have to hope that its regular season was sufficient for a good enough ranking to be in the group of seven.
All of this goes to show that the Ducks’ playoff hopes may actually be dashed by the new criteria. Dan Lanning and his squad will not only have to have an incredible maiden season in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation.