EUGENE — Dan Lanning isn’t sure whether Oregon gained an advantage by playing in the first round of the College Football Playoff or Texas Tech is benefiting from a bye.

What Lanning is more certain about is “the way we do playoffs in college football is messed up.” The fourth-year Oregon coach, who has been adamant in calling for the season to end on Jan. 1, was at it again Monday as the No. 5 Ducks prepare to take on the No. 4 Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl. He said Texas Tech should have a home field advantage in the quarterfinals rather than a neutral site game.

“We’re really excited to be going to the Orange Bowl, but this game should be played at Texas Tech,” Lanning said. “They’re the higher-seeded team. We should play the week right after the last game; the next playoff game should be the next Saturday. The next playoff game should be the next Saturday. The next playoff game should be the next Saturday. Then the championship game. But we’re trying to fit a lot of things in different sequence.”

Before last year’s Big Ten Championship game, Lanning said there were “a lot more pros than cons” to playing for the conference title and securing a first-round bye. His position changed after Oregon lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, which came following a 25-day break.

Though Lanning has been tight lipped about some of the details, Oregon changed aspects of its postseason routine from a year ago.

For one, the Ducks were off for several days earlier this month instead of taking several days off around Christmas. Many players’ families will be visiting Eugene for the holiday this year rather than players going home before returning to campus for practice and departing for the Orange Bowl.

“There’s definitely a skill and art to making sure that your team is prepared when you have long breaks and I think that was clear last year,” Lanning said. “You’ve got a little bit more time to prepare for this game, but a little bit different than the last one. That’s the other part that doesn’t make really a lot of sense, is the sequence of days in between each game and each playoff. There’s not really a rhythm and for us as a coach, it’s about how do you create that rhythm? How do you challenge yourself to say, ‘OK, how can we keep things the same as much as possible for our players?’ It’s tough when you’ve got big gaps and big breaks like that.”

In contrast, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said “the majority” of the Red Raiders — most of whom live in state — will go home for Christmas and return to Lubbock.

“That was kind of the reward of winning the Big 12 and getting a bye,” McGuire said.

Last year, all four teams that received first-round byes lost in the quarterfinals. Whether that trend continues could impact how the playoff is structured going forward, or at least how coaches strategize.

“I don’t know that it’s a decided advantage for one team or the other,” Lanning said. “You’re dealing with different issues.”

No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) vs. No. 5 Oregon (12-1)

When: Thursday, January 1Time: 9 a.m. PTWhere: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.TV: ESPN and ABCStream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.