By Matthew SchmidtShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberDan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are certainly in a peculiar situation heading into the College Football Playoff, as offensive coordinator Will Stein has already accepted the Kentucky head-coaching job and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi is in the process of landing the job at California.
It didn't stop the CFP committee from bumping Oregon in the rankings, moving up from No. 5 to No. 6 following its season-ending win over the Washington Huskies.
Read more: Kalen DeBoer Sets the Record Straight on Alabama Coach Who Took New Job
However, CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek acknowledged that all of the shuffling among the Ducks' coaching staff could potentially be bothersome for the squad, even if it didn't ultimately affect their ranking.
“There’s obviously a distraction,” Yurachek said, via James Crepea of The Oregonian. “But the committee, in the end, after discussion, it felt like we don’t have any games where Ole Miss does not have their head coach or Oregon potentially has a distracted offensive coordinator, et cetera.”
...Both Stein and Lupoi are expected to coach the Ducks through the College Football Playoff, so even if they may be a bit distracted overall, they will still be on the sidelines trying to win a national championship for Oregon.
The Ducks went 11-1 during the regular season, boasting an 8-1 record in Big Ten play. Their only loss came to undefeated Indiana back on Oct. 11.
Oregon doesn't have a particularly strong resume overall, with its best wins coming over Iowa and USC (the Penn State victory obviously doesn't look all that impressive anymore), but the Ducks are clearly a dangerous team.
Last year, Oregon was undefeated heading into the CFP until it was routed by the Ohio State Buckeyes — a team that the Ducks beat during the regular season last year — in the Rose Bowl.
Read more: Florida Gators’ Jon Sumrall Fires Back at Brutal Coaching Comparison
We'll see if Lanning's club can post a different result this time around.
Oregon has logged five straight double-digit win campaigns, four of which have come under Lanning's direction.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
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