The continued absence has limited the conference's national visibility and damaged its perception, but Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said his program will not make any scheduling concessions to facilitate an easier path to the four-team playoff.
"They want to play the best teams in the country all the time, and there is no way we're going to go away from that mentality to try to schedule down to appease -- whatever, I guess I should stop there before I get in trouble, right?" Cristobal said. "These guys deserve to find out how good they are by playing against the best, so we're going to continue doing that."
Oregon entered Friday's conference championship game against No. 5 Utah well out of the playoff picture, in part due to a season-opening loss to Auburn. Had the Ducks not scheduled Auburn and settled for three easier nonconference games -- similar to the schedule Utah played -- their 37-15 win against the Utes might have put them in position to receive strong consideration for a playoff spot.
The Ducks play Ohio State the next two seasons and Georgia in 2022.
"They want to play the best teams in the country all the time, and there is no way we're going to go away from that mentality to try to schedule down to appease -- whatever, I guess I should stop there before I get in trouble, right?" Cristobal said. "These guys deserve to find out how good they are by playing against the best, so we're going to continue doing that."
Oregon entered Friday's conference championship game against No. 5 Utah well out of the playoff picture, in part due to a season-opening loss to Auburn. Had the Ducks not scheduled Auburn and settled for three easier nonconference games -- similar to the schedule Utah played -- their 37-15 win against the Utes might have put them in position to receive strong consideration for a playoff spot.
The Ducks play Ohio State the next two seasons and Georgia in 2022.