Good Luck Ducks, Playoff Edition: Home and Uncharted

Oregon hosts James Madison in the first round of College Football Playoff madness.

We're in uncharted waters here as the Fighting Ducks play host to a College Football Playoff game for the first time. In all previous years and versions of various postseason formats, Oregon has always found itself in ostensibly neutral ground, but often a hostile environment for various reasons. Today they'll host a Group of Five upstart in Autzen Stadium with hopes of advancing to the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day. Yes, we have the unprecedented event of football happening in Eugene in mid-to-late December. Madness! The closest thing I could compare this to is the earliest days of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, when Oregon hosted (and won) the inaugural game as the top seed before it was moved to a so-called neutral site a few years later.

When last we saw these Ducks a few weeks ago, they were taking care of business up in Seattle, and they still had all of their coaches. Does this sound familiar? Oregon is losing it's offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and at least one additional assistant as other schools have already made their moves to snap up some of these guys. They should really consider a hiring/negotiating/no contact period for coaches until after all of the bowls and playoffs are wrapped up, but I know that would negatively impact recruiting and the NCAA barely has any power as an entity anyway. It's just awkward for everybody. Dan Lanning will have his work cut out for him in replacing these assistants, as Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi have had their hands all over the 2020s Ducks and their schemes.

The James Madison Dukes won the Sun Belt in an impressive season, with their only blemish being an early season loss at Louisville. They're led by standout QB Alonza Barnett III, who won himself a bevy of awards in a comeback season after he had ACL surgery barely a year ago. They're certainly good enough to shake things up and should give Oregon a test, but they haven't faced talent (or a defense) like the Ducks. It could be a long evening at Autzen for the visitors from Virginia, but you never know what is going to happen this time of year.

Notes and miscellany:

• I could complain here about the whole mess that is/was the CFP selection process, even though it didn't seem to adversely affect Oregon's situation. The thing is, everything in sports just feels a bit rigged these days, doesn't it? It's fun to shout "rigged!" at things in jest, but there's some truth to it. In any case, I'll say this: Alabama has no business being in the playoffs this year. Teams should be judged by who they lose to (or don't), not who they didn't play. I don't think Miami deserves a spot, either, but that might be because I have a middle finger (or two) up at Mario Cristobal at all times.
• Opponent fun fact: James Madison University was once known as Madison College, but there is a certain school in Madison, Wisconsin that is more associated with that name, I guess. For only having joined the FBS in 2022, the Dukes have certainly made it a quick route to the playoffs. Sadly, their mascot Duke Dog, is not actually a live mascot. I always prefer live mascots.
• Opponent history: These two schools have never met on the football field. In fact, I can't even find evidence that they've faced each other in any sport, but some of that data is going to be hard to find.
• Game time is 4:30 PM PST on TNT in Eugene. Go Ducks!