Saturday, Dec. 20
7:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Pacific
TNT, HBO Max, TruTV
James Madison-Oregon is a playoff game which frankly should not exist for a number of reasons. First of all, if the ACC had better tiebreakers and had instituted policies which enabled Miami to play in the conference championship game, five-loss Duke wouldn’t have had a chance to win and thereby allow James Madison in. The Dukes are in this game and the playoff because the CFP has a policy of giving automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions. Duke of the ACC was not one of the five autobid qualifiers given its five losses. James Madison was able to take Duke’s — and the ACC’s — place. Most people would agree that one Group of Five team being in the playoff is fine. Having two, in a year when the Group of Five is not exceptionally strong, is viewed as too many G-5 teams.
The other way in which this game shouldn’t exist is that Oregon should be seeded lower than Ole Miss. The Ducks’ win over Penn State wasn’t that good in retrospect. It seemed huge at the time, but Penn State turned out to be an average team. Oregon lost to Indiana and did not play Ohio State. Ole Miss has better quality wins than Oregon. Ole Miss should have been seeded No. 5 and Oregon No. 6. It’s a weird game with a lot of unusual angles.
James Madison-Oregon contains real Big Ten intrigue
James Madison coach will be at UCLA next season, creating conference preview
James Madison-Oregon is fascinating because the coach at James Madison, Bob Chesney, will take over UCLA as soon as JMU exits the playoff. Chesney will try to delay his departure by beating Oregon, but regardless of the outcome of this game, JMU-Oregon marks a first matchup between Chesney and Dan Lanning. The two men will continue to get to know each other and their teams when UCLA plays Oregon in the Big Ten. It’s a scouting report for both men, even though their primary focus is obviously on winning a playoff game and advancing to meet Texas Tech in the quarterfinals at the Orange Bowl. How Chesney and Lanning attack each other will create what could be the most interesting chess match among the four CFP first-round games.
The Oregon defense should be able to establish physical superiority over and against the James Madison offense, so it will be up to Chesney to find a way to scheme around his group’s physical limitations.
James Madison Dukes-Oregon Ducks odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the 3Dog Thursday Podcast by clicking Play below:
James Madison +20.5 (+100), Oregon -20.5 (-120)
Over 47.5 (-110), Under 47.5 (-110)
Underdog moneyline: James Madison +950
Oregon is a massive favorite, as you can see. The Ducks should indeed be able to do what they want with James Madison. They are stronger and faster. Also, Oregon got some players healthy in the three weeks between its last regular-season game and this game. That might be the real reason Oregon is able to blow out JMU and comfortably cover the spread. Take the Ducks minus the 20.5 points. It’s certainly a lot better than minus-21.5. A three-touchdown win cashes your ticket.