After being left for dead during the wave of conference realignment that destroyed the old PAC-12 following the 2023 season, Oregon State’s future looked very bleak. In 2024 and 2025, they had a combined record of 7-17, going 2-10 last year after starting 0-7 and firing their head coach. This season has been a different story though. Under first year head coach JaMarcus Sheppard and in the first year of the revamped PAC-12, the Beavers have completely turned things around. Oregon State is 5-2 and on a 5-game win streak, with their lone losses coming in competitive games with #8 Texas Tech and #14 Houston (one possession game with Houston in the 4th quarter, led Texas Tech in the 4th quarter). They have the leading passer in all of College Football (Braden Atkinson, 2,604 yards & 24 TDs) and the leading receiver in all of College Football (Jesse Legree, 1,040 yards & 14 TDs). Atkinson and Legree are firmly in the Heisman conversation and I personally have them both Top 5, alongside Jeremiah Smith, Darian Mensah, and Malachi Toney. Legree has garnered so much national attention regarding top programs trying to poach him in the transfer portal next year, that former Oregon State WR Chad Johnson has offered to pay millions to their NIL fund to retain Legree. On Saturday against Washington State, the Beavers had a true sellout atmosphere without an empty seat in the stadium. Oregon State received three votes as the #25 team in the nation in the AP poll this week, and an anonymous Power 4 head coach said yesterday that it’s “ridiculous” the Beavs aren’t ranked. Oregon State has the No. 4 offense in the FBS, scoring 42.7 points per game. Their offense is so good they have not had a 3 & out in FOUR WEEKS. They earned at least one first down on every single drive in each of their last 4 games. They are a real contender to win the PAC-12 title and a leading candidate to make the College Football Playoff with the Group of 6 bid. With how badly they got screwed by conference realignment and being forced down into the G6 (after being a power conference program for decades), seeing them succeed this year is awesome and is great for the sport. Go get ‘em, Beavs 🫡