So what's keeping Beavers from a spot in CFP?

Oregon State has suddenly turned into a Pac-12 power

_{Oregon State went 7-17 combined the past two seasons, and last played in a major bowl game in 2002.}

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After five weeks of college football, the Oregon State Beavers have quietly turned into one of the amazing stories that its fans have no reason to not start looking ahead and asking, "why not us?" for a spot in the College Football Playoffs - if they win out.

All the Beavers have to do it win out, which would include a win at No. 23 Boise State on the way to nine straight victories after an 0-2 start. The most recent poll has the Beavs' two losses to No. 22 Houston and No. 11 Texas Tech, in that order. And, they were highly competitive games, especially for a first-time coach.

OSU's wins are over UTEP, Montana and Colorado State - not the most impressive resume, but it's gotten those wins impressively, and looked very much like a team that could challenge and beat Boise State. If that's what happens in November, and BSU is a CFP contender, why shouldn't the Beavers replace BSU as the PAC-12 rep in the CFP mix? No reason at all.

In the decade since the CFP was formed, Oregon State has not reached it one time, while BSU played in it 2024. Oregon is, of course, a contender for a CFP spot every year, but its major challenge is having to many quality programs to beat across the Big 10. OSU basically has Boise State. If the Beavers can simply upgrade weekly as they have, and continue with their predicted victories, they should be right on course for a conference-rumble with the Broncos on Nov. 14, then likely play them again in the conference championship game, Dec. 4 at home as they'd be the highest-seeded team.

It's easy to dismiss the Beavers because they haven't beaten really a team of significance, and they lost both of the games that would have made them a team to watch. But, people forget that both James Madison (Sun Belt) and Tulane (The American) were involved in the CFP last season. Both lost in the first round, but they were invited to the dance.

As of Oct. 4, Boise State is the highest-ranked team from any of the non-Big 4 Conferences.

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Beavers

Cliff Pfenning

Cliff is a lifelong resident of Oregon and has four decades of experience as a writer, photographer, videographer, broadcaster and now producer. He's a grad of Benson High in Portland and the University of Oregon. His writing background includes stints at The Oregonian, The Register-Guard, The News-Review in Roseburg, The Portland Tribune, The Portland Observer as well as regular contributions to The Medford Mail-Tribune and Willamette Week. He was set to be a content provider for Action Sports Cable Network if it had began operations in 2000. He also has taught sports broadcasting through the high school program at KBPS in Portland.

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