Finding the Path to the 12-Team Playoff Next Season For Oregon State Football

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

The schedule is known for Oregon State in 2024. The roster is not complete. But it’s never too early to look ahead.

In the inaugural year for the “Pac-2”, Oregon State plays a schedule that looks like it could be good enough to compete for a spot in the expanded 12-team college football playoff.

John Canzano on the Bald Faced Truth laid out the path for the Beavers and the pitfalls along the way.

The biggest question was who is Oregon State going to play now that they are a part of the Pac-2 and not one of the Power 4 conferences. Canzano talked about the first six games of the season and how there is a chance now that Jonathan Smith is gone, who usually started out the season slow, that the Beavers could start out hot.

The first six games look like this for the Beavers.

vs Idaho State

@ San Diego State

vs Oregon

vs Purdue

@ Cal

@ Washington State

“This is not a Jonathan Smith coached team, it’s Trent Bray,” Canzano said on 750 The Game. “There’s some questions about depth. There’s some questions about turnover. It’s a first year coaching staff. Would it be inconceivable, not likely, but inconceivable that Oregon State could start next season with those six games and start the season 4-2? 5-1 if they really put it together?”

A hot start for the Beavers would put them in a spot where they could run through their Mountain West portion of their schedule and end the season with one or two losses and potentially get in the expanded 12 team playoff.

“Here’s the path to the playoffs for Oregon State,” Canzano said. “It’s buried in the schedule. If you have one or two losses. You’re in play as a potential group of five team, but certainly a team I think rated a little higher then the group of five teams that are usually out there, because they are playing Cal, Washington State, Purdue, Oregon. They’re playing a schedule that’s better then a group of five schedule.”

One of the other big questions for the Beavers is who is going to be playing for this team. The Beavers lost a lot of players in the transfer portal. The portal is still open and Oregon State has an opportunity to get some new players. But it’s the uncertainty that gives Canzano pause on saying the Beavers could be great next season.

“It’s the turmoil that gives me pause. Everybody could look back and say, hey Oregon State had a good first year under Trent Bray and go 7-5 or 8-4 because of the schedule they’re playing. But I still think there’s an opportunity for Oregon State, if they really put it together, where Oregon State looks at the back half of their schedule and says we could be the group of five team that gets in there.”

It’s a long path ahead. And there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the conference and roster moving forward. But for 2024, if Trent Bray can put it together. The Beavers should have a chance at the newly expanded playoff.

Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano live weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.

@steven_von