I bet Mike Gundy wished he kept his mouth shut, and not say anything how the ducks run their organization.
But the thing is though -- was he wrong? If anything, the game result proved him right.
CFB has always been stockpiling as much raw talent as a school can, under the rules. Well-coached teams go farther, but even those that aren't could simply overwhelm another based on the relative skill levels of the players.
The patsy, non-conference
humiliations games that some schools play, and which the smaller or lower-division schools agree to schedule for the financial payouts that make up large parts of their budgets, prove that again and again.
In the past, that money had to mostly be spent indirectly, through lavish facilities, and other incentives to attract the young, impressionable kids, who are there to play sports more so than to get an education.
Now, the schools can pay them directly, and those financial battles are upfront and in the open. In a system that allows commitments to be easily broken and what little allegiances to be changed like underwear on an annual basis.
Ask Tennessee how that can go. UCLA has other issues with its team, but so far, the bang for its buck hasn't been so great.
Gundy just proved himself right, and that there is always a fish larger than you.
We used to have one primary pro league and a larger semi-pro league. Now we have two pro leagues, except one that's larger and with unrestricted free agency for all, and no hard salary cap except what the market dictates.