Oregon Coach Dan Lanning’s College Football Playoff Pitch Comes With a Warning

EUGENE - Everybody loves a Cinderella story. The Oregon Ducks might have the strangest one in college football right now.

The Ducks opened the season ranked No. 2, lost starting quarterback Dante Moore to injury and fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer midway through the season. Now, after back-to-back ranked wins, No. 16 Oregon has a chance to be the team wearing the glass slipper in the College Football Playoff.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks the field before the game as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Nov. 7, 2026, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Before the College Football Playoff rankings came out Tuesday night, Oregon coach Dan Lanning had a prediction about how other teams would feel about seeing Oregon in the field.

Dan Lanning’s College Football Playoff Pitch

"Based on what we show we're capable of and how we're playing right now, I'm sure a lot of teams don't want us in those 12 teams, especially coming down the stretch. And if it's about having the best teams in the end, we've got to see who's playing the best football at the end. And we get an opportunity to go out here Saturday and show that," Lanning said on the Pat McAfee Show.

Hours later, the Ducks made the biggest jump of any team in the rankings. Oregon climbed seven spots from No. 23 to No. 16 after beating Ohio State 41-28 in Columbus, making the Ducks the highest-ranked three-loss team in the country in the CFP rankings.

Oct 31, 2026; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun, left, greets Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning after a game at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oregon (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) has appeared in 33 consecutive CFP rankings releases and Ducks are still alive for a College Football Playoff bid for the third straight season. Lanning made his pitch.

“I don't think it's any secret that our conference probably doesn't get the respect it deserves, especially when you see week in and week out what's accomplished in this conference. So the results kind of speak for themselves. I don't get to sit in those meetings," Lanning said.

"We haven't necessarily sustained success all season, but ultimately – We're playing really good football. If we can keep that trend running, this conference can keep that trend running, then they should certainly consider teams like ourselves, and certainly these other Big Ten teams that we've played to be in that hunt," Lanning continued.

Lanning also pointed to Miami, which barely made last season’s CFP field and went on to play for the national championship.

How Oregon Can Still Reach the College Football Playoff

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Oregon's resume is nothing to scoff at. Oregon and No. 3 Alabama are the only teams in the country with multiple double-digit road wins over ranked opponents. The Ducks beat then-No. 12 USC 41-27 in Los Angeles and scored 38 unanswered points in their 41-28 win over then-No. 12 Ohio State at the Horseshoe.

Best quote of the night.

Mic drop, Oregon coach Dan Lanning.

"We're like cockroaches, man. We won't die."

📹 @oregonfootball https://t.co/BbnuXiZJHc pic.twitter.com/Lh0ijA5ZzW
— Bri Amaranthus (@BriAmaranthus) November 8, 2026

Oregon also beat then- No. 20 Northwestern at home, giving the Ducks three wins over teams ranked at the time of the game, a mark only Georgia, Texas and Ole Miss have matched or exceeded.

As far as defeats go... Two of Oregon’s three losses came against teams still in the top 25, No. 4 UCLA and No. 25 Oklahoma State. The loss to unranked Illinois does hurt the pitch. It came as Oregon was adjusting to Dylan Raiola at quarterback and before Jay Johnson took over as play-caller. The Ducks have averaged 37.5 points in two games since the change.

Winning out would make Oregon at 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten. The Ducks could earn an at-large bid depending on where they land in the final CFP rankings and the movement ahead of them. A win in the final Big Ten Championship Game would guarantee Oregon a playoff spot.

Here’s one set of results that would send Oregon to Indianapolis to face UCLA.

Oregon beats Michigan, Michigan State and Washington.
UCLA wins out, handing Illinois and USC another conference loss.
USC beats No. 9 Indiana on Nov. 14.
No. 15 Iowa and Wisconsin each lose at least one more conference game.

Oct 31, 2026; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dylan Raiola (8) walks off the field after a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State all finish 7-2 in that scenario, the Ducks would win the tiebreaker on record against common conference opponents.

Lanning has leaned on the words of former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban during this rollercoaster of a season.

"I think one thing that I've kind of really helped myself with is what you hear coach (Nick) Saban say all the time is like, we don't control outcomes, but we can influence outcomes," Lanning said. "And we got a bunch of players in that room that don't want to quit."

"We've experienced a lot of adversity, a lot of things that look different than what we anticipated when the year started. And I've always told our team, you want to be playing your best ball in November," Lanning said.

ESPN's College Football Playoff Predictor gives Oregon a 32 percent chance if they finish 3-0 in the regular season, but don't receive an invite to the Big Ten title game. That changes to an 18 percent chance if they make the Big Ten Championship but don't win it.

The Ducks' path runs through Autzen. Oregon hosts Michigan (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 12:30 p.m. PT on FS1.

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