The Athletic Ranks Oregon State Football At #71 Ahead of 2024 Season
Chris Vannini of The Athletic released his comprehensive preseason rankings of each team in FBS college football on Monday.
The Oregon State Beavers land at #71 in the nation, just outside the top half of the FBS.
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At the end of the 2023 season, the Beavers were ranked by The Athletic as the #27 team in the country. The 44-spot drop is likely due to returning production, or a lack thereof. Per ESPN, the Beavers only return 34% of 2023's production that helped Jonathan Smith reach an 8-5 record before he left for Michigan State. That 34% is the third-lowest percentage in FBS.
Still, Oregon State made a few decent pickups in the transfer portal, have a room full of talented running backs, and a small bit of continuity with Trent Bray being promoted to head coach after spending the last two seasons as the Beavs' defensive coordinator.
Oregon State will play a full schedule this season despite the Pac-12 dwindling to just two members over the course of the last year, thanks to a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West. That schedule begins on August 31 when Bray's Beavers host Idaho State.
JOE LONDERGAN
Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.