It is not lost upon the Oregon State fan base that the two best teams over the past 60 years in Corvallis haven't qualified for the Rose Bowl. Indeed, the last Beavers team to turn the trick did so in 1964, when Tommy Prothro's final OSU edition, which tied for the regular-season crown, was awarded a berth in Pasadena by a controversial vote that kept John McKay's USC at home. (Trust us, the Beavers were not deserving over the Trojans, as Michigan reminded in the Rose Bowl by rolling to a 34-7 win). The most-memorable OSU team since was certainly the 1967 Dee Andros "Giant Killers," who in one magical three-week stretch late in the season would beat a pair of top-ranked teams (Purdue and USC) and tie the second-ranked team (UCLA). By the end of that campaign, Oregon State, featuring a brawling defense and bullish FB Bill "Earthquake" Enyart, was arguably the nation's best team, but there was nowhere to go in the postseason in those days for a team that finished tied for second in the AAWU/Pac-8.
Fast forward 33 years and Dennis Erickson had one of the nation's most-dynamic entries featuring WR Chad Johnson (now known Chad Ochocinco) and only one loss, though it came in narrow fashion at Washington in the effective Pac-12 decider. Denied Pasadena again, OSU settled for routing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. The Beavers have threatened a Pasadena trip a couple of times since, but entering the fall, it's now 59 years and counting since an Oregon State Rose Bowl trip...
Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Oregon State's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Pac-12 season.
Pac-12 preview: Conference winner | Arizona | Arizona State | California | Colorado | Oregon | Oregon State | Stanford | UCLA | USC | Utah | Washington | Washington State
What do you need to know about Oregon State before locking in your Pac-12 futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Pac-12 futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!
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