Oregon Ducks avoid College Football Playoff drama with Big Ten dominance
It's chaos for everyone -- except the Oregon Ducks.
INDIANAPOLIS — James Franklin was far from upset about his team’s actual play.
Sure, his Penn State Nittany Lions had lost a game that, save for a few plays, could have been winnable. But after a 45-37 loss to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten Championship game, the coach tried to give his opponent credit and segue into how proud he was of his team for competing.
The Oregon band had other ideas.
See, the postgame press conference situation here in Lucas Oil Stadium is a temporary thing. Reporters gathered in a large auxiliary room in the bowels of this Midwestern cathedral to ask questions of the coaches and players sitting up at a long table positioned right up against a wall. Behind the wall is a walkway. And in that walkway was the Oregon band. And just as Franklin was gearing up, the band kicked in with a rousing rendition of “Mighty Oregon.”
The noise filled the press conference. The moderator asked Franklin to pause for a moment and let the band finish.
He wasn’t a fan.
“I have no issue with them celebrating,” Franklin said. “But this is kind of a JV setup.”
The 52-year-old wasn’t wrong there, but if he had an issue with Oregon celebrating, well, it probably wouldn’t have mattered.