Joel Klatt reacts to Dan Lanning's shot at SEC scheduling

Dan Lanning‘s Oregon team looks well on its way to clinching a second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff after downing No. 15 USC 42-27 on Saturday. The Ducks improved to 10-1 (7-1) after the win and will finish their regular season this Saturday against Washington.

Because they have the one conference loss, they will likely miss the Big Ten Championship Game. This would keep them at one loss (unless they are upset by Washington) heading into the College Football Playoff Selection Show, with that one loss being No. 2 Indiana.

Following the win on Saturday, Lanning took a shot at SEC scheduling and the College Football Playoff Rankings. With a grin on his face, Lanning boasted about the fact that the Big Ten plays nine conference games while (presumably the SEC) spent most of their week playing bye-games.

“We just played a really good team and we beat them,” Lanning said. “A lot of times we play really good teams that become unranked all of a sudden and that’s not our fault. Maybe it is our fault, but all we’re worried about is playing the teams we play and doing the job we need to do. We did that job today, and I think that the proof is in the pudding. We played a good team and we beat them.

“All we can do next week is try and do the same thing. This conference is a really good conference. It’s competitive. We didn’t play Chattanooga State today, like some other places. We competed, so with that being said, it’s tough playing nine conference games. It’s tough playing in this league and we got to take advantage of playing a good team today and attacking that.”

FOX Sports‘ Joel Klatt responded to Lanning’s comments on Monday’s edition of ‘The Joel Klatt Show‘, where he pointed out that almost every power-four program plays ‘cupcake’ teams.

“There was something interesting that Dan Lanning said after the game,” Klatt said. “We talk about this topic a lot in college football this time of year. He touched on it. Uh, I love Dan Lanning. I think that he is a star. I said this last year… if I had to buy stock in a young coach, I’d buy Dan Lanning stock. Now you know why. He not only wins, but I love his mentality and how honest he is with that answer.

“Is Dan Lanning right? Of course he’s right. C’mon, c’mon, C’mon. Of course he’s right, because the timing of these games matters. I know he’s taking a specific shot there. You’ve got Chattanooga, you’ve got Eastern Illinois, and the Samford games and stuff like that. Is it beneficial to play them this late and quintessentially get a bye? Of course. And to suggest that it’s not is disingenuous.

“Having said that, if you really look at this, let’s also not throw stones in glass houses because Oregon did have Montana State on the schedule. So it’s not that we’re just not scheduling FCS opponents, cupcakes are littered across college football. Everybody plays cupcakes. So it’s not about pointing and saying ‘oh, you played this team!’ Everybody plays that team. That cupcake. It’s more about the timing, and we all understand that. It’s true. There’s no doubt.”

Oregon has faced scrutiny this season for its schedule, which Lanning alluded to in his comments. The Ducks actually owned two ranked victories heading into the game (No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 27 and No. 20 Iowa on Nov. 8), but those programs have been nowhere close to the College Football Playoff Rankings.

The win over USC finally gives Oregon a strong victory to hang its hat on and pretty much wrap up a spot in the CFP, barring a complete meltdown of a loss to Washington.