Category: Oregon State Beavers

WCC to add Oregon State and Washington State in basketball for next two years

The WCC is expected to vote to confirm Oregon State and Washington State as affiliate members for the next two seasons, giving Gonzaga a regional rivalry with the Cougars.

The expectation has long been that Oregon State and Washington State, the two remaining Pac-12 programs, would merge with the Mountain West Conference in all sports. After all, the two sides already reached a scheduling agreement for football, and line up as logical geographic and athletic partners in most sports.

However, reported logistical and ongoing legal concerns made a move difficult, and instead the two programs will reportedly join the West Coast Conference as affiliate members – playing a conference schedule in all sports except football and baseball – for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, according to Matt Norlander of CBS.

League presidents and athletic directors are expected to vote and approve the measure on Thursday morning. This move will bring the WCC from nine schools to 11, helping alleviate the recent loss of BYU and bringing more brand recognition and scheduling appeal to the conference while they attempt to hold on to powerhouse basketball program Gonzaga, who have been in realignment rumors with the Big 12 for nearly a year now.

This move creates a regional rivalry between Gonzaga and Washington State, located 75 miles from each other in Eastern Washington, and while neither WSU or OSU are particularly elite at men’s basketball they add to the depth of the conference.

The addition of the Cougars and Beavers will inflate the league’s basketball schedule to 18 or 20, according to Norlander, and tweaks to the WCC Tournament format are likely coming as well – while financial payouts for NCAA Tournament units have not been disclosed.

Mountain West reveals Oregon State and Washington State games for 2024

All 12 members of the Mountain West will play a game against either Oregon State or Washington State as the last two members of the Pac-12 fill out their 2024 schedules.

The Mountain West Conference revealed the 2024 opponents for each member of the conference, including the matchups for Oregon State and Washington State, on Thursday.

The final remnants of the Pac-12 announced a partnership with the Mountain West conference on Dec. 1 to fill out their schedules since the rest of their conference scattered to the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC.

All 12 members of the Mountain West will play one game against either the Beavers or the Cougars. Games against Oregon State and Washington State won’t count toward any Mountain West team’s conference record, and neither the Beavers nor the Cougars will be eligible for the Mountain West Conference Championship game.

Oregon State will host Colorado State, San Jose State, and UNLV. The Beavers will travel to Air Force, Nevada, and San Diego State.

Washington State will welcome Hawaii, Utah State, and Wyoming into its home stadium in Pullman. The Cougars will play Boise State, Fresno State, and New Mexico on the road.

Former Oregon State QB linked to be next Beavers offensive coordinator

A former QB could return home to run the offense under Trent Bray.

Recently promoted head coach Trent Bray could be closing in on his new offensive coordinator. Football Scoop is reporting that current UCLA Bruins quarterback coach Ryan Gunderson is the target to run the offense.

Gunderson has served as the quarterbacks coach under Chip Kelly for the last two seasons. Prior to taking on that role with the Bruins, the former Oregon State quarterback served as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator with San Jose State. Gunderson also has experience as the director of player personnel with both the Beavers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

This would be his first opportunity as the play caller at the collegiate level and would come at this alma mater.

Multiple sources tell Football Scoop that Bray is moving to make Ryan Gunderson the new offensive coordinator moving forward for the Beavers.

A former Oregon State quarterback and Portland, Oregon, native, Gunderson has spent the past three seasons as quarterbacks coach for Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins program.

Once the Beavers have their next offensive coordinator in place, they will need to move swiftly to address players in the transfer portal. On Thursday, starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei put his name back in the transfer portal. He transferred to Oregon State prior to the 2023 season after losing his starting job at Clemson to five-star freshman Cade Klubnik.

Report: Oregon State and Washington State finalizing ‘7+1’ schedule with the Mountain West

It appears that the remaining Pac-12 schools could have opponents for 2024.

We are in unprecedented territory with the upcoming 2024 college football season. The FBS world looks to operate under a “Power Four” plus two teams from the “Pac-2” next season.

Ten of the 12 members of the Pac-12 found new homes with four heading to the Big Ten, four heading to the Big 12, and two more heading to the ACC. That leaves just Oregon State and Washington State to fend for themselves. That is where the Mountain West comes into play according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.

According to the recent report from Dellenger, the two remaining schools are close to finalizing a deal with the Mountain West in a scheduling alliance for the 2024 season. The report also indicates that it could be extended into 2025.

The alliance is built around what’s termed a “7+1” format where Mountain West teams play seven conference games — not eight — plus one game against either Washington State or Oregon State. There is an option to extend the deal to the 2025 season as well.

The two Pac-12 members will not be eligible for the MWC championship and will compete as quasi-independents under the Pac-12 banner. Those Mountain West schools with previously scheduled non-conference games against one of the two schools will play the other as well during the same season.

There has been speculation about Oregon State and Washington State joining the Mountain West or a reverse merger. In that scenario, the teams in the Mountain West would accept both teams but under the Pac-12 banner. Perhaps that is to keep the Power Five autonomy. The other Power Five conference would need a 60% vote in favor of keeping them as one of the five power conferences.

It remains to be seen if that will indeed be the case, but for now, this gives both the Beavers and Cougars opponents in 2024 outside of their “nonconference” slates that were already agreed upon prior to the mass exodus of teams.

As it sits right now, Oregon State is scheduled to play Idaho State, Boise State, and Purdue. Washington State is currently scheduled to play Portland State, San Diego State, Washington, and San Jose State. The scheduling alliance feels similar to what the ACC did for Notre Dame during the COVID year.

New Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith shares statement on his time with alma mater Oregon State

The new Spartans head coach spent the past six seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, and he thanked the community on Saturday.

Jonathan Smith was announced as the new Michigan State head coach on Saturday. Shortly after the announcement, he shared a written statement on social media about his time with his alma mater Oregon State, where he had coached since 2018.

Smith played quarterback for the Beavers from 1998-2001 and worked on the team staff as a graduate assistant from 2002-03. He worked a few different jobs before he returned to Corvallis in 2018, this time as the Beavers head coach. When news of his departure broke, he thanked his players and staff but most emphasized the university community.

“When I first arrived as a freshman college student, I had no idea the opportunities and relationships this community would provide for me and my family,” Smith wrote. “The collective impact you have made makes it impossible for me to thank everyone individually, but I am forever grateful.”

Smith led the Oregon State program for six seasons, compiling a 34-35 overall record. His resume is really built around the past two seasons when led the Beavers into the top 15 of the College Football Playoff both years and compiled an 18-7 record over the past two seasons.

Oregon State athletic director issues statement on Jonathan Smith’s departure

The Oregon State head coach, who helmed the Beavers for the past six seasons, was announced as the Michigan State coach on Saturday.

With Michigan State officially announcing Jonathan Smith as its next head coach on Saturday, Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes shared a written statement about his former football coach.

“Coach Smith and his staff worked tirelessly to rebuild the culture at Oregon State,” Barnes said. “All of Beaver Nation should thank him for the lasting legacy he has left.”

Smith took over the Beavers program before the 2018 season, He went 2-10 in his debut season with Oregon State and failed to make a bowl game in each of his first three seasons, but his foundation paid off the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2022 season, he is a combined 18-7 and the Beavers have reached the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings each of the past two seasons.

Oregon State will now search for a new head coach as it navigates the new Pac-12, which currently only has the Beavers and Washington State after most members left for other conferences.

Oregon State AD Scott Barnes issues statement on Jonathan Smith

Oregon State AD releases statement as the coaching carousel begins to spin.

Despite the fact that the Oregon State Beavers are just days from their annual matchup with the Oregon Ducks, there is plenty of speculation about the future of the football program. More importantly, what is the future of head coach Jonathan Smith?

Smith has been among the names for open jobs around the country and on Wednesday, it seemed like he might be the guy for the Michigan State Spartans. It was first reported by Football Scoop, that he was the key target for the open job that has been on the market the longest. Northwestern was previously the job on the market the longest but they removed the interim tag from David Braun, filling that vacancy.

Shortly after the reports of Smith potentially going to East Lansing once the regular season ends, Athletic Director Scott Barnes issued a statement on the future of the Beavers football program and head coach Jonathan Smith.

“Coach Smith and I have had ongoing conversations for more than a month regarding his future at Oregon State and our path forward for football specifically and our athletic department generally. He has embraced our short and long term plans. My No. 1 priority is providing him with a new contract and guaranteed compensation that will help continue the success of the football program that has benefitted Oregon State University and Beavers’ Athletics. Coach Smith and I have also discussed our commitment to extending assistant coaches’ contracts and increasing the salary pool for his staff to retain the continuity of what they have all built together for Beaver Nation.”

It isn’t surprising that Smith is in high demand, not only for his current university but others around the program. The former Oregon State quarterback has won 18 games to just six losses in the last two seasons. If you span back further to 2021, Smith is 25-12 in that span. What is interesting about the statement by AD Barnes is the fact that it doesn’t say anything bout Smith being retained or signing a new contract as of yet.

Smith is earning a salary of $4.85 million this season according to the USA TODAY Sports coach salary database. He would owe a buyout of $17.53 million if he were to break his contract.

With the uncertainty of Oregon State and their football conference, I wouldn’t be shocked if he took a job elsewhere. After all, he did say his agent better be “finding out what is out there”.

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View our favorite Amazon Prime Big Deals Day deals for each team in the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25.

The college football season is heating up and ranked teams are headed in all directions in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

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Washington State and Oregon State will not go to the AAC, shutting down one possible option

Washington State and Oregon State are the only Pac-12 teams left. The AAC rejected them. Only two options appear to be left for WSU and OSU.

Is the Mountain West Conference the only realistic landing spot for Oregon State and Washington State?

We noted a few weeks ago that the Big 12 “would be the first preference for the Cougars and Beavers, but they’re not calling the shots. Brett Yormark is. If the Big 12 shuts the door to WSU and OSU, the merger with the Mountain West might have to be accepted, as undesirable as it might be. Oregon State and Washington State are not in a good position to become independent the way Stanford conceivably could.”

It turns out that the Big 12 does not want Oregon State and Washington State, and that Stanford did not want to be independent in football. OSU and WSU are part of a “Pac-2” now that Stanford and Cal have moved to the ACC. Is it Mountain West or nothing? With the AAC closing the door to WSU and OSU, that seems increasingly likely.

Let’s look at the Wazzu and Oregon State views of conference realignment as it stands:

Oregon State prays for Big 12 invite but certainly can’t bank on it

There have been reports that the #Big12 is considering further expansion from 16 to 18, but the #Beavers might not be part of that.

The drama isn’t done in college sports. Yes, the big dominoes fell on Friday when Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah left the Pac-12 to effectively kill the conference.

Maybe a zombie Pac-12 continues in a merger with the Mountain West, but that’s not what Cal, Stanford or Washington State wanted. It’s not what Oregon State wanted, either.

The Beavers are hoping the Big 12 Conference will look to the Northwest. It would be weird, but then again, hasn’t this whole soap opera been extremely bizarre to begin with? There have been reports the Big 12 is considering the possibility of expanding from 16 schools (with the Four Corners schools being newly added) to 18.

This gives Oregon State the hope it can find a power conference home instead of being relegated to the Mountain West. As everyone knows, however, Oregon State isn’t calling the shots here. It will basically do what it is told and go where it is forced to go. The Big 12 has to want OSU. The Beavers can make a presentation or pitch, but it’s not their final call, and they don’t have the pull to insist on how their future looks. It’s sad.

Let’s give you a sampling of the national reaction to Oregon State’s plight in what is now the Pac-4: