Dan Lanning not focused on Big Ten title race before Washington game

In their first year as members of the Big Ten Conference, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks went undefeated in the regular season and won the league title, beating teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Michigan Wolverines along the way.

Now, with one game remaining in the regular season, there's a slim chance that they can get back to Indianapolis and compete for the conference title once again. Should Oregon win over Washington on Saturday, and the Buckeyes lose to Michigan for the fifth straight year, then the Ducks would find themselves in a rematch against the Indiana Hoosiers for a second consecutive conference title.

But the real question is: should Oregon even want to play for the conference title again?

Don't get me wrong, winning a Big Ten Championship is a big deal, and doing it in your first two years as conference members would certainly be special. However, seeing as the Ducks got the short end of the stick last year with their College Football Playoff path, and were impacted by the extra bye week that get were rewarded for winning the conference title, it's a fair question to ask.

It is not, however, a question that Dan Lanning was willing to entertain on Monday night.

"It's a good question," Lanning said in response. "I just, I don't know the benefits for me answering it. We'll play whatever game we get to play, but I'm really excited to play this one first."

Lanning is right to turn down the opportunity to answer the questions truthfully. If he were to say that his team would rather not play in the Big Ten Championship Game in order to get an extra week of rest and prepare for the playoffs, he would be ridiculed. If he were to say that he relishes the opportunity to play an extra game that could potentially leave his players at risk of more injury, and ultimately hurt their playoff seeding, he would be lying.

So instead, he kept his answer short and ambiguous.

"I'm only worried about this game."

As he should be. The Ducks play the Washington Huskies on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Seattle. Whatever happens after that can be dealt with down the road.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks, Dan Lanning not focused on Big Ten title game scenarios