The Pac-12 football schedule, the last as we know it, has been unveiled.
The complete slate for the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers are below, but first, a few observations:
November — including a Black Friday Oregon State at Oregon rivalry game — will feature five games in the Willamette Valley.
The Pac-12 is sticking to a nine-game conference schedule, meaning each team will play three non-conference games before playing nine conference foes over 10 weeks.
The most interesting thing about September will be seeing an Oregon State game at the remodeled Reser Stadium, which is on schedule for completion by June. The first of six home games for the Beavers will happen on Sept. 9 against UC Davis. One week later, San Diego State visits Corvallis.
The Ducks’ non-conference home games should be routs: Portland State visits Autzen on Sept. 2 and Hawaii is at Oregon on Sept. 16. In between is what an interesting road matchup at Texas Tech, where former Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough is expected to return to the Red Raiders.
Oregon’s first league game figures to have some buzz with Colorado visiting Eugene for Deion Sanders first Pac-12 contest.
With the Willamette Valley rivalry game in Eugene in 2023, the Ducks get five conference home games while the Beavers play four.
November will be busy in the Willamette Valley. Oregon plays three times at Autzen in September and three times at home in November. But October could be the defining month for the Ducks, with games at Washington on Oct. 14 (off a bye for both teams) and at Utah on Oct. 28 sandwiching a home date with Washington State.
Beavers fans and Duck fans get to let the Los Angeles schools know how they feel about the Trojans and Bruins abandoning the Pac-12. Chip Kelly’s UCLA squad makes its final visit to Corvallis on Oct. 14. USC is at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 11 in what figures to. be a circus atmosphere — especially if the Ducks get through October in contention for the Pac-12 championship game or more.
At first glance, Oregon State plays four conference games on the road (Washington State, California, Arizona and Colorado) where the Beavers might be favored and home games against three teams expected to compete for the Pac-12 title (Utah, UCLA and Washington). With the advantage the Beavers have built at Reser Stadium, it’s easy to imagine a scenario where the Nov. 18 visit from Washington determines a place in the conference title game.
We are, of course, getting way ahead of ourselves. In this era, where rosters won’t be finalized until at least May with the transfer portal, it’s impossible to know how any of these teams will shake out.
Still, schedule release day is our first opportunity to speculate and pontificate.