PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon released its full schedule for the 2024 college football season on Wednesday, the first it will play as a member of the Big Ten, and there's one notable omission on the list of opponents: Oregon State.
It appears that for the first time in nearly 80 years, the rivalry game between the Ducks and Beavers may be in jeopardy. The last time the rivalry game wasn't played was 1944 and that was because the game was canceled in 1943 and 1944 because of World War II.
This time around, the reason doesn't seem quite as serious as a world war. When the Ducks announced before the start of the 2023 season that they were leaving the Pac-12 to become a member of the Big Ten, they left the Beavers behind, and perhaps the rivalry game with it, at least for next season.
The news release from Oregon didn't mention the omission of Oregon State from the schedule. After Oregon announced its departure for the Big 12 in August, the university left the door open for the rivalry game to continue in the future, though it didn't specify that would happen in 2024.
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said at the time that "our goal would be to schedule Oregon State in every sport that is possible," The Oregonian reported in August. "Football schedules can be complicated because of how far out it is and the difficulty of playing nonconference games later in the year, but our goal would be absolutely to continue to play Oregon State."
That may be the answer if the teams don't end up playing in 2024. Football schedules, especially non-conference games, are scheduled years in advance. The Oregonian reported that the Ducks and Beavers have some games scheduled out all the way into the 2030s. The Ducks can't play the Beavers in the final game of the regular season like they did when they were both in the same conference, meaning the two schools are limited to those few non-conference games at the start of each season to schedule a rivalry game.
Later Thursday, Nick Daschel of The Oregonian reported that the two schools "continue to have discussions about playing a football game in 2024, even though the Ducks on Thursday released their football schedule for next season." Daschel goes on to explain that Oregon would need to negotiate a buyout or move a game with one of its four non-conference opponents to fit the Beavers into its 2024 schedule.
Here's Oregon's 2024 schedule:
- Aug. 24 – at Hawai’i
- Aug. 31 – Idaho
- Sept. 7 – Texas Tech
- Sept. 14 – Boise State
- Sept. 28 – at UCLA*
- Oct. 5 – Michigan State*
- Oct. 12 – Ohio State*
- Oct. 19 – at Purdue*
- Oct. 26 – Illinois*
- Nov. 2 – at Michigan*
- Nov. 9 – Maryland*
- Nov. 16 – at Wisconsin*
- Nov. 30 – Washington*
Home games in bold
* Big Ten Conference game
Correction: A previous version of this article stated in the headline that the rivalry game would not be played in 2024. Since additional reporting has indicated that the two teams are still discussing options to play a football game next season, the headline was changed to report only that the Beavers were left off the Ducks' 2024 schedule.
