When the 2023 Pac-12 football schedule was released last week, Oregon State’s calendar for the upcoming season was made complete. Dates and locations were officialized for the Beavers’ twelve contests in what should be the program’s most highly anticipated campaign in two decades.
Of course, some games will be tougher than others, and some will carry more weight in determining where Oregon State falls in the Pac-12 standings, national rankings, and various championship races.
Here, we’ve ranked each of the twelve games in order of difficulty. There are no guaranteed wins or losses in college football, but we’ve done our best to sort the Beavers’ contests from most to least winnable given what we know seven and a half months ahead of the season opener.
Date: September 9th (Game 2)
2022 Result: N/A
2022 Opp. Record: 6-5, 5-3 Big Sky
This one’s pretty straightforward. UC Davis is a middle-of-the-road FCS program, and if Oregon State struggles against the Aggies, that would be telling of some fairly serious problems. Eventual FCS semifinalist Montana State gave the Beavers a little bit of trouble for a quarter or so before getting completely obliterated in 2022, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see UC Davis find a similar fate in Corvallis next season.
Date: November 11th (Game 10)
2022 Result: Oregon State 28, Stanford 27
2022 Opp. Record: 3-9, 1-8 Pac-12
In picking candidates for the Pac-12’s worst team in 2023, Stanford is about as safe of a bet as you’ll find. With other bottom dwellers likely to take steps forward, the Cardinal seems to be heading firmly in the opposite direction. New head coach Troy Taylor will look to make the program competitive again in college football’s new landscape, but it’s unlikely to happen right away, and Oregon State should be able to take advantage of that with a late-season win at home.
Date: October 7th (Game 6)
2022 Result: Oregon State 38, California 10
2022 Opp. Record: 4-8, 2-7 Pac-12
On the other side of the San Francisco Bay, the California football program also seems locked into mediocrity. The Golden Bears haven’t been notably bad over the last few years under Justin Wilcox, but it’s not like they’ve been particularly good either. The Transfer Portal also hasn’t been too kind to them this offseason, so the talent level in Berkeley will be about on par with, if not a touch lower than, what it has been in recent years. Oregon State took care of business against the Golden Bears last year, and it should do the same in a road matchup in 2023.
Date: November 4th (Game 9)
2022 Result: Oregon State 42, Colorado 9
2022 Opp. Record: 1-11, 1-8 Pac-12
After checking in as the worst Power Five program in the nation last year, Colorado looks, ahem, primed to make a quick turnaround in year one of the Deion Sanders era. We’re torn here on whether the Buffaloes will field a better team than California, but at the very least they’ll be about equal in the upper part of the conference’s bottom tier. Plus, playing at elevation in front of an engaged fanbase at Folsom Field is tougher than doing so in the atmosphere, or lack thereof, at Memorial Stadium, so we’ll give a slight edge to Colorado for presenting the tougher test.
Date: September 16th (Game 3)
2022 Result: N/A
2022 Opp. Record: 7-6, 5-3 Mountain West
Like it did in 2022, Oregon State will play two Mountain West teams in the fall. These ones aren’t quite on the level of last year’s Boise State and Fresno State, but they’re no pushovers either. San Diego State is a solid Group of Five program that is coming off a down year by its own standards and will be looking to return to the double-digit win mark in 2023. The Aztecs bring back their starting quarterback and four offensive linemen, but will that be enough to offset the rotation on the coaching staff and across the rest of the roster? If so, they’ll continue to reside in the top half of the MWC.
Date: September 2nd (Game 1)
2022 Result: N/A
2022 Opp. Record: 7-5, 5-3 Mountain West
San José State and San Diego State were nearly identical teams last year, posting almost the exact same record and finishing within a couple of spots of each other on various power rankings. If that’s the case again in 2023, then the Spartans should be a slightly tougher opponent given that Oregon State will play them on the road. Montana State star running back transfer Isaiah Ifanse will give them added fire on the offensive side of the ball to go with solid returning quarterback Chevan Cordeiro; slow those two down, and the Beavers will win.
Date: October 28th (Game 8)
2022 Result: N/A
2022 Opp. Record: 5-7, 3-6 Pac-12
If there’s a sneaky difficult game on Oregon State’s 2023 schedule, it’s this one. Jedd Fisch has Arizona playing extremely tough, and it paid off with a nice uptick in wins from year one to year two. Recruiting success has followed, and as a result, the Wildcats find themselves now with a legitimate opportunity to return to bowl eligibility and crack the top half of the Pac-12. Playing that kind of team on the road is a recipe for a letdown, so Oregon State will need to lock in during its two weeks of preparation (both teams will be coming off a bye).
Date: September 23rd (Game 4)
2022 Result: Oregon State 24, Washington State 10
2022 Opp. Record: 7-6, 4-5 Pac-12
There are a couple of Pac-12 programs that are a little difficult to get a read on right now, and Washington State falls into that category. It doesn’t feel like the Cougars are conference title contenders yet under Jake Dickert, but they’ve given no reason to believe they belong in the bottom half of the league either. Oregon State finally snapped an unbelievably lengthy losing streak in this series last year, but can the Beavers finally break through and beat the Cougs in Pullman? It’ll be tricky, but it’s something they need to do if they’re going to make a run to Las Vegas.
Date: October 14th (Game 7)
2022 Result: N/A
2022 Opp. Record: 9-4, 6-3 Pac-12
As far as opponent caliber is concerned, there’s a pretty sizable gap between UCLA and the teams below it on this list. These top four games will all be monumental in determining Oregon State’s ability to compete for the Pac-12 crown. The good news for the Beavers is that the Bruins are retooling their roster a bit, therefore have some question marks, and are forced to make the trip north to Corvallis. The bad news is that Chip Kelly has masterfully plugged holes via the Transfer Portal and is welcoming some extremely talented true freshmen to Westwood as well. Great midseason game incoming.
Date: September 29th (Game 5)
2022 Result: Utah 42, Oregon State 16
2022 Opp. Record: 10-4, 7-2 Pac-12
The first big game of the 2023 season brings Utah to town in week five. Should both teams be undefeated heading into it – a realistic possibility – this could be a Friday night Top 15-ish showdown with early conference title implications. In this series, the home team often comes out on top, and Oregon State will have a nice advantage with what should be a raucous primetime crowd with students back in town. This has dogfight potential.
Date: November 18th (Game 11)
2022 Result: Washington 24, Oregon State 21
2022 Opp. Record: 11-2, 7-2 Pac-12
In the first game of an extremely difficult back-to-back to close the season, Oregon State welcomes Washington to town for senior day. These two teams have played each other very tightly over the last few seasons, and the competitive juices will be flowing once again in a matchup that should carry some hefty stakes. Heisman-contending quarterback Michael Penix Jr. versus the dominant Oregon State defense will be must-see TV for the second straight year.
Date: November 24th (Game 12)
2022 Result: Oregon State 38, Oregon 34
2022 Opp. Record: 10-3, 7-2 Pac-12
There’s not much question about it: the rivalry matchup against Oregon poses the toughest challenge of any game on Oregon State’s 2023 calendar. Of the four likely Pac-12 title contenders the Beavers will face, the Ducks are the only team they’ll have to play on the road, and it’s no secret how tough it is to win at Autzen Stadium. As if last year’s battle wasn’t big enough, the 127th installment may be the most monumental yet if both teams live up to their potential.
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